orig. Robert Traill Spence Lowell, Jr.
born March 1, 1917, Boston, Mass., U.S.
died Sept. 12, 1977, New York, N.Y.
U.S. poet.
Lowell was a descendant of a distinguished family that included James Russell Lowell and Amy Lowell . Though he turned away from his Puritan heritage, it forms the subject of much of his poetry. His first major work, Lord Weary's Castle (1946, Pulitzer Prize), contains "The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket." Life Studies (1959) contains an autobiographical essay and 15 complex, confessional poems largely based on his family history and personal life, which included time in mental institutions. His activities in liberal causes in the 1960s influenced his next three volumes, including For the Union Dead (1964). His later collections include The Dolphin (1973, Pulitzer Prize).