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Amy (Lawrence) Lowell
(February 9, 1874 - May 12, 1925) U.S.A.

Amy Lowell

Poet and literary critic

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Born into a distinguished family in Brookline, Massachusetts, Lovell suceeded Pound as leader of the Imagists. She repudiated the Victorian style of Poetry. She lectured widely, read poetry and wrote criticism throughout her career.

According to one critic, "she added new beauty to English poetry". Her work, in free verse, include Sword-Blades and Poppy Seed (1914), Men, Women and Ghosts (1916), East Wind (1926), Selected Poems (1928) and Pictures of a floating world.

The love of her life was actress Ada Dwyer, whom Lowell called "Peter." They lived together from 1914 until the poet's death in 1925. Lowell's love poems, she admitted to close friends, were addressed to Ada, although the language (at least early in their relationship) was circumspect - only those "in the know" recognized the lesbian aspect of her poetry.

However, Lowell's work became "much more blatantly erotic" as the relationship continued. A series of poems, Planes of Personality: Two Speak Together, describe the ongoing relationship, including the intensely erotic poem, A Decade that celebrates their anniversary:

When you came, you were like red wine and honey,
And the taste of you burnt my mouth with its sweetness.
Now you are like morning bread.
Smooth and pleasant.
I hardly taste you at all for I know your savour,
But I am completely nourished.
Lowell's work was frequently criticised, not because of her poetic talents, but because of her lesbianism and her habit of wearing men's shirts, flouting conventions, and smoking cigars. After a decade of ill health, Lowell died of a stroke on her estate, Sevenels. Her book, What's O'clock (1914), won a Pulitzer Prize in 1926.

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See two poems in the page devoted to her in our Famous Homoerotic Poems.

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