LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL ( 1819-91 ). A distinguished American poet, essayist, and diplo mat. He was horn at Cambridge. Mass.. Feb ruary 22. 1819, and died there August 12, 1891. The family had long been eminent in and about Boston. where his father, the Rev. Charles Lowell, was minister of a Unitarian church. He entered Harvard College. where all his male ancestors in the direct line seem to have studied, in his six teenth year, and was poet of his class on its graduation; his poem was anonymously printed in 1838. He then entered the law school of the university, but. though lie finished the course, he found the study of fail' so uncongenial that he never seriously practiced the profession. His bent was literary. In 1841 lie published his first volume of poems, Year's Life. This was fol lowed. in 1844. by a collection of poems, including the "Legend of Brittany." and other academic pieces in the style of Keats. The same year he married Maria White, of Watertown, ...Vass. (see below). whose high character and earnestness quickened his own humanity, and led him to use Ins pen in tile service of good movements. In 18413 he printed in the Boston Courier the first of the Big/oic Papers, published in book form in 1848. a series of satirical poems directed against the Mexican War. The Yankee dialect verse became immediately popular, and Lowell began to win wide recognition. Beside, his poems he had already published Conversations on Some of the Old Ports (1S-13), a series somewhat an tique in form. hut displaying an unusual amount of critical ability. In 1848 he increased his repu tation by "A Fable for (anonymously published), a rambling poem, full of hrilliant wit and striking puns. and also keen critical judgments of contemporary writers then just rising into fame. such as Emerson. Hawthorne, Poe, and others. The same year appeared a vol ume of miscellaneous poems. and also what probably the most popular of his more academic pieces, "The Vision of Sir Launfal." The period of his hest prose work began about 1855, the year when lie was appointed to succeed Longfellow as Smith professor of modern lan guages at Harvard College, a position which lie held till 1877. In 1857 he married second wife, the accomplished Miss Frances Dunlop. of Portland. The same year he became editor of the At/antic Monthly, a post which lie held until 1862. From 1864 to 1872 he was joint editor of the Yorth American Reriew. In the pages of these magazines many of his best literary and critical essays appeared. They were printed in hook form in Fireside Trarels (186-I1. a series of de scriptive and reminiscent sketches; Among My Books (1870) : My Study Windows ( 1871) : and the second series of Among My Books (1876). Meanwhile Lowell continued writing poetry. From 1862 to 1866 The Atlantic published the second series of the Biglow Papers (hook form. 1867). directed against the slavery party of the Civil War. hi 1865 he delivered. at the memorial services in honor of 'Harvard students and grad uates who had fallen in the war, his "Commem oration Ode." his most dignified and serious poem, considered by many one of the best Ameri can poems. Other volumes of verse were radrr the Willows (1860): The Cathedral ( and Three Memorial Poems, the last named contain ing the famous to Lincoln.
and America that make Lowell the most conspicu ous poet of American patriotism (1877).
In 1877 Lowell was appointed Minister to :Madrid by President Hayes, and in 188)) was transferred to London, where he served with dis tinction till 1885. While in England he delivered several admirable speeches, which were published later as Democracy. and Other Addresses (1857). In 1SSS appeared his last volume of verse. Heartsease and Rue. and the same year a volume of Political Essays. The year after his death the ten volumes of his revised and complete works were supplemented by his Latest Literary Essays and Addr, s, and by a series of lecture, which he had delivered in Boston in 1887, called 7'he Old English Dramatists. both edited by Charles Eliot Norton. In addition to the volumes enumerated, Lowell edited the works of several Engli h poet as Keats I S54 ; Word,worth 18541 : Shelley (1857) : and Donne ( published 18951: he al,o edited. among other prose writings, the Compleat Angler of Walton Lowell appears in American life and letters in many rides. Ile is a poet. a critic, an essay ist, a public a diplomat. his poetry is varied and uneven. Hi, earlier verse i, often imitative, academic, and sentimental. Much of hi, later work is more serious in spirit and more genuine in feeling, yet often phrased in verse presenting much the same appearanee of uneven ness. The explanation is that most of Lowell's verses, aside from the rather conventional poems of sentiment. were written for immediate effect, as with a view to reform, and the native of abundant humor, a rich and varied vocabu lary, and a wealth of imagery made a rapid. un studied expression best suited to his purpo.e:, and rendered him most effective with his read ers. As a poet. lie is essentially vigorous, richly endowed with wit and humor, writing with very little conscious artistic sense. He is indeed one of the foremost of American poets. but he gains his place and reputation. not by the artistic and agreeable phrasing of common sentiments dear to the heart of the people. as Longfellow; nor as Emerson, by depth and isolation: nor as Poe, by unrivaled sense of form: nor Bryant, by dignity; nor as Whittier, by fervor: hut through the native vigor of his expression. and the sound common sense of his lle has produced some of the hest verse that has ap peared from the hand of any distinguished American. and lie has also produced some of the worst. Among the most even and excellent of his poems are "The Vision of Sir Launfal." "She Came and \Vent." "The First Snowfall," "After the Burial." and the "Commemoration Ode." Among the most characteristically humorous are some of the verses from the Biglwr Papers. as "The Courtin'." and "A Fable for ('rities," and "In the Half-Way House." Undoubtedly the most original and effective poetry he ever wrote is to be found in the Biglow Papers. which com bine shrewd satire and sound political judgment and hearty patriotism to an extent rarely paral leled in literature. The Memorial Poring, though less racy and original, are scarcely less effective.