"To Speak of Woe that is in Marriage" and "Memories of West Street and Lepke" by Robert Lowell

In "To Speak of Woe that is in Marriage," Robert Lowell writes about sex without actually saying the word 'sex,' "The hot night makes us keep our bedroom windows open." I like the way he tells a story in such a short poem and portrays how the husband and wife behave, and feel about their marriage. For example, Lowell describes the husband the way he deals with his marriage, "husband drops his home disputes/and hit's the streets to cruise for prostitutes." The husband is running away from his marriage problems, he goes to look for sex somewhere else. And Lowell portrays the wife lamenting at home because her husband is out there looking for different thrills, "My only thought is how to keep alive."

In the line, "What makes him tick, " Lowell brings us (the reader) inside the poem to make us part of their marriage dispute and invites us to judge for ourselves. At the end of the poem, the wife comes up with a solution, so that the husband will not go out on her again. Lowell has the wife taking control of the situation (I like that), "Each night now I tie ten dollars and his car key to my thigh."

Also, Lowell talks about the husband's need for sex, for example in the line, "Gored by the climacteric of his want," I like the type of language he utilizes here. He writes good details, for example in the line, "whiskey-blind, swaggering home at five," he describes the husband being drunk without saying the word, "drunk"--it's very witty.

Lowell uses rhyming couplets throughout the poem, "...bedroom windows open/...begins to happen " and "...his home disputes/...cruise for prostitutes." In conclusion, Lowell engages the reader with the type of language and wittiness he utilizes throughout the poem.

In "Memories of West Street and Lepke," Lowell has good descriptions throughout the poem. For example, "in pajamas fresh from the washer.../...her flame-flamingo infant's wear/I was a fire-breathing Catholic.../Negro boy with curlicues of marijuana in his hair." I suspect the speaker feels old because of what he says: "These are the tranquilized Fifties/and I am forty." The speaker of the poem implies that he is old and/or feels old, "I have a nine months' daughter/young enough to be my granddaughter."

There's a lot of things Lowell writes about in his poem. The speaker talks about "West Street Jail and describes it as a short enclosure." The speaker also talks about other people, such as, "Abramowitz" and goes on and on talking about him, describing him so well, "a jaundice-yellow/and fly-weight pacifist/so vegetarian." Lowell's use of details really make this poem come alive as in the line, "wearing chocolate double-breasted suits/they blew their tops and beat him black and blue." Lowell includes the speaker's conversations with other people: "Are you a C.O? I asked a fellow jailbird/No, he answered, I'm a J.W." He engages the reader in the poem by addressing a question, "Ought I to regret my seedtime?" In this line, I suspect the speaker is having a dilemma whether he should regret being old or not, and inviting the reader to give his/her opinion on the matter. Concluding, Lowell's use of details, descriptions and conversations add to the liveliness of his poem.