''Land of Unlikeness'',

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

's first book of poetry, was published in 1944 in a limited edition of two hundred and fifty copies by Harry Duncan at the Cummington Press. The poems were all metered, often rhymed, and very much informed by Lowell's recent conversion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Background

The book contains an introduction by Lowell's one-time teacher and mentor

Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Among his best known works are the poems " Ode to th ...

who labels the young Lowell "a Catholic poet." In describing the prevailing style of the book, Tate writes," tis bold and powerful, and the symbolic language often has the effect of being willed; for it is an intellectual style compounded of brilliant puns and shifts of tone; and the willed effect is strengthened by the formal stanzas, to which the language is forced to conform." While not a glowing assessment of Lowell's early work, Tate does conclude that Lowell is an important young poet who "will have to be reckoned with." Tate also states that he prefers the poems in ''Land of Unlikeness'' which are less "explicitly religious," citing the poems "A Suicidal Nightmare" and "Death from Cancer." Five poems from this volume were republished in Lowell's next book, '' Lord Weary's Castle''. Although the book is not particularly well known and was soon completely overshadowed by the Pulitzer Prize-winning ''Lord Weary's Castle'', the full text of ''Land of Unlikeness'', which had been out of print for many years, was reprinted in 2003 in the Appendices Section of Lowell's ''Collected Poems''. The editor of the ''Collected Poems'',

Frank Bidart Frank Bidart (born May 27, 1939, Bakersfield, CA) is an American academic and poet, and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Biography Bidart is a native of California and considered a career in acting or directing when he was young. In 19 ...

, notes in his "Introduction" to the volume that, during his lifetime, Lowell would not allow ''Land of Unlikeness'' to be reprinted, and Bidart states that he thought ''Lord Weary's Castle'' was "the book that ''Land of Unlikeness'' wanted to be."

Themes

In 2009, the literary scholar

Helen Vendler Helen Vendler (née Hennessy; April 30, 1933 – April 23, 2024) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. She was a professor of English language and history at Boston University, Cornell, Harvard, and other universities. Her aca ...

gave a lecture on Lowell in which she commented on early Lowell and the poem "Concord" as it originally appeared in ''Land of Unlikeness'' (before Lowell published a slightly altered version in ''Lord Weary's Castle''), stating that " n this poem Lowell, in powerful satire, mixes denigration of his revolutionary ancestors, along with denigration of Emerson and his bloodless

Unitarianism Unitarianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian sect of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the wikt:unitary, unitary God in Christianity, nature of God as the singular and unique Creator deity, creator of the universe, believe that ...

."Helen Vendler Lecture on Lowell: November 18, 2009. Poets.org
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References

{{Robert Lowell Works by Robert Lowell 1944 poetry books American poetry collections