Wallace Stevens’s Modernist Poetry in Robert Lowell Confessional Poetry: Reading and Misreading the Master

Abstract

This article argues that Robert Lowell’s response to Wallace Stevens’s modernism provides grounds for the creation of his confessional poetry. Owing to the nature of this study, this article relies on Harold Bloom’s theory of influence and Mikhail Bakhtin concept of hidden polemic. This methodology highlights that while Lowell is attracted to Stevens’ urban aesthetics, he does not simply, and blindly, follow the master’s poetic principles. Unlike Stevens who seeks to create a secular poetry which he offers as a substitute for religion to fill the spiritual vacuum caused by the absence of religion, Lowell develops a viable modern Christian poetics to overcome the difficulty in defining his role as a Christian poet in a secular world and finding the proper place for religion in his work. Lowell’s new confessional poetry with its concern with the poet’s individual experience to address social and political issues also marks his departure from Stevens’ influence.