Amy Lowell

“The Letter”

“Venus Transiens”

“Modonna of the Evening Flowers” 

I noticed several common threads among Amy Lowell’s poems, “The Letter” and “Venus Transiens.” Each of these pieces has a major theme of love, yet each speaker approaches their love for their object of desire in a completely different manner.  

In “The Letter,” I can feel as if it were my own “chafing heart” tired and weary from the want of “you.” This poem reminds me of my high school love. I kept breaking up with him throughout the years, and then I’d realize I can’t be without him. I wanted him too badly. I’d write letters and emails, but to me, my words weren’t enough, they didn’t illustrate clearly enough how bad my heart hurt for him and for me and how sorry I was. I just wanted him to understand me and know exactly what I meant. This piece is dreamy and filled with devotion, the speaker will write her words of love until they are known by her lover. 

With the poem “Venus Transiens” again I felt a sense of this dreamy, fantasy kind of love, with images of the beautiful Venus atop “crinkled waves, drifting shoreward on her plaited shell.” The speaker continues to describe her standing “poised in the blue and buoyant air,” as the speaker stands firm on the sandy shore as the waves come in stir the sands. This is such a dreamy, romantic image and metaphor. The waves of Venus move the move the sands at the speaker’s feet and Venus is the only thing that moves and inspires the speaker to love and to live.  

Finally in the third piece, by Amy Lowell “Madonna of the Evening Flowers,” the speaker describes an exalted, uplifted kind of love.   

Each of these poems addresses the themes of love, but with a feeling of obsessing, pining, devoting one’s life to worshipping the ones these speakers love. They all have this theme in common. But all in all each speaker in each poem is describing their love and the way it makes them feel and the crazy things it makes them do; this is love.