Blog #3

I really enjoyed reading Amy Lowell's poem, "September 1918." Although it may be short, I think Lowell captures and describes-in great detail-the ambience of the times. The first world war was almost over; she even mentions it in the first line of the third stanza, "Some day there will be no war." And this comes as a surprise, since the first two stanzas are littered with images of a beautiful, Autumn day, "This afternoon was the [colour] of water falling through sunlight, The trees glittered with the tumbling of leaves. . ." Yet, one could argue these first two lines are already giving away subtle hints: Lowell's use of the words tumbling and falling (and in the third line, dropped) can be considered to foreshadow the darker underlying theme she reveals near the end of the poem. With the war right outside her door the past four years, I am certain Lowell has heard the sound of bombs "dropping" and planes "falling" out of the sky. And I am sure these terms were expressed all the time in conversations and newspapers, as well, to describe the current events. (Anthology, p 713)

Lowell continues to paint a picture of beauty and happiness in the fourth line of the first stanza, "And the houses ran along them laughing out of square, open windows." Then she gives us the next, but last, line of merriment as she conveys the image of two boys in the park that, "Were carefully gathering red berries, To put in a pasteboard box." Thus far, Lowell has given her readers a reflection of enjoyment and prosperity, but the very next line contains her mention of the war. This stanza is represented with such darkness and melancholy, especially the first (aforementioned) and last three lines: "For I have time for nothing, But the endeavor to balance myself, Upon a broken world." (Anthology, p 713)

In contrast-amongst all the doom and gloom-I think Lowell is offering her readers hope, as well as herself; she talks of a brighter and more optimistic future. The first seven lines in the third stanza really explain this concept best. "Some day there will be no war. Then I shall take out this afternoon, And turn it in my fingers, And remark the sweet taste of it upon my palate, And note the crisp variety of its flights of leaves, To-day I can only gather it, And put it into my lunch-box. . ." I feel what Lowell is trying to articulate is that this moment, whether fantasy or reality, can only be retrieved when there is a time of peace-until then, it will just be a daydream, or memory. (Anthology, p 713)