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“Another armored animal”: Robert Lowell’s Allusions to Marianne Moore
- Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory
- University of Arizona
- Volume 72, Number 2, Summer 2016
- pp. 1-28
- 10.1353/arq.2016.0009
- Article
- Additional Information
Abstract:
Although it seems unlikely that Lowell used Moore’s poetry as a model, in fact he echoed and imitated her repeatedly. Lowell’s allusions to Moore ask us to rethink this prototypical confessional poet and how he viewed his work; they also show us under-observed aspects of allusion, and give us new reasons to return to influence studies. For Lowell, allusion is a way to get beyond his own style. I explore his relationship to Moore through Life Studies, and then sketch a broader technique the two poets share: the escape offered by farfetched metaphor.