The confessions of an ex-con: Robert Lowell remembers West Street, Lois Lepke, and a Skunk in Maine

Abstract

Robert Lowell’s memories of his experience in prison during World War IIII (he was incarcerated for being a conscientious objector in opposition to the war) surface in his break‑‑through volume Life Studies and inform two of that volume’s canonical poems, “Memories of West Street and Lepke” and (less directly) “Skunk Hour.”

As recordações da sua experiência na prisão durante a Segunda Grande Guerra (o poeta esteve preso por ser objetor de consciência e se opor à guerra) surgem no inovador volume Life Studies, de Robert Lowell, e enformam dois dos poemas canónicos dessa obra, “Memories of West Street and Lepke” e (de forma menos direta) “Skunk Hour”.