AllMovie

This documentary is one part in a series of six films that portray the lives and works of great American writers. Robert Traill Spence Lowell, Jr. was a prominent voice in American poetry during the era of the Second World War. Born in Boston, MA, on March 1, 1917, he became a spokesman for his times when he began writing works on the theme of resisting the depersonalization of violence and war. A number of his best poems are on this subject, including: The Quaker Graveyard at Nantucket, Mother Marie Therese, Skunk Hour, and For the Union Dead. The tension between societal obligations and the needs of the individual were essential to his work, and struck a chord with the reading public. Robert Hass and Elizabeth Hardwick narrate the film.