The Mills of The Kavanaughs
Encyclopedia
The Mills of the Kavanaughs is the third book of poems written by the confessional poet Robert Lowell
. Like Lowell's previous book, Lord Weary's Castle
, the poetry in Kavanaughs was also ornate, formal, dense, and metered.
The editors of Lowell's Collected Poems, Frank Bidart
and David Gewanter, include a large footnote on the poem with an excerpt from Hugh Staples' book Robert Lowell: The First Twenty Years (1962) in which Staples provides the following summary of the poem's plot in flashback:
mythological account of Persephone
in Metamorphoses V . . .is brought into play [throughout the poem].
The poem was published in two additional versions that were quite different from the version in The Mills of the Kavanaughs. First, there was a magazine version of the poem that appeared in the Kenyon Review in 1951 prior to the publication of The Mills of the Kavanaughs. The editors of Lowell's Collected Poems note that the magazine version included references to the Virgin Mary and Saint Patrick
that Lowell later removed. Then, many years after the publication of the poem in The Mills of the Kavanaughs, the poem re-appeared in a new version when Lowell released his Selected Poems in 1976. In this volume, he included a significantly shorter version of the poem in which he pared the epic 38 stanza poem down to just five stanzas.
), and "Thanksgiving's Over."
The last poem in the book, "Thanksgiving's Over," is similar to "The Mills of the Kavanaughs" in its basic premise. However, instead of a wife remembering her deceased husband, this time the roles are reversed and the widowed husband remembers his deceased wife (in this poem, the recollection occurs in a dream).
The poem "David and Bathsheba in the Public Garden" would later reappear in Lowell's book For the Union Dead
in a revised form under the title "The Public Garden." During Lowell's 1963 public reading at the Guggenheim, he explained that many of his readers expressed confusion over the presence of the Biblical characters of David
and Bathsheba
being located in a modern park in Boston, and according to Lowell, the characters made the poem "impenetrable." So in order to make the poem more accessible, Lowell decided to completely remove David and Bathsheba from the revised, later version of the poem which was shorter and much more personal.
, Charles Poore praised the book, writing, "The Mills of the Kavanaughs. . . is a fine new collection of poems in angular, stony meters, sometimes as obscure as one end of an overheard telephone conversation, always savagely brilliant in their hard impact on the mind."
However, Randall Jarrell's
review of the book in Partisan Review
was much more measured in its assessment. Although Jarrell liked the handful of shorter poems in the collection, he was critical of the main characters in the epic, title poem, writing, "The people [in 'The Mills of the Kavanaughs'] too often seem to be acting in the manner of Robert Lowell, rather than plausibly as real people act . . .I doubt that many readers will think them real."
The Poetry Foundation website notes that The Mills of the Kavanaughs was "less successful" than Lowell's previous book, Lord Weary's Castle
, which had won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
.
Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
. Like Lowell's previous book, Lord Weary's Castle
Lord Weary's Castle
Lord Weary's Castle, Robert Lowell's second book of poetry, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1947 when Lowell was only thirty. Robert Giroux, who was the publisher of Lowell's wife at the time, Jean Stafford, also became Lowell's publisher after he saw the manuscript for Lord Weary's Castle and...
, the poetry in Kavanaughs was also ornate, formal, dense, and metered.
"The Mills of the Kavanaughs" (poem)
The majority of the book consists of the epic title poem which tells the story of Anne Kavanaugh, a widow living in Maine in 1943, who "is sitting in her garden playing solitaire" and Lowell tells her story through a series of stream-of-consciousness flashbacks in which she recalls her troubled relationship with her now-deceased husband, Harry.The editors of Lowell's Collected Poems, Frank Bidart
Frank Bidart
Frank Bidart is an American academic and poet.-Biography:In 1957, he began to study at the University of California at Riverside and went on to Harvard, where he was a student and friend of Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop...
and David Gewanter, include a large footnote on the poem with an excerpt from Hugh Staples' book Robert Lowell: The First Twenty Years (1962) in which Staples provides the following summary of the poem's plot in flashback:
Anne [grew up as] a poor girl from a family of thirteen children, who [was] first adopted by the Kavanaughs and then [got] married to the youngest son, Harry. . .Joining the Navy prior to Pearl HarborStaples notes that "Ovid'sPearl HarborPearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, her husband returns from the war on the verge of a nervous breakdown; he attempts and fails to suffocate his wife in bed one night because she speaks aloud, while asleep, to a man in a dream; Harry fears that she has committed adultery. Shortly thereafter, greatly distraught, he [dies].
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
mythological account of Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
in Metamorphoses V . . .is brought into play [throughout the poem].
The poem was published in two additional versions that were quite different from the version in The Mills of the Kavanaughs. First, there was a magazine version of the poem that appeared in the Kenyon Review in 1951 prior to the publication of The Mills of the Kavanaughs. The editors of Lowell's Collected Poems note that the magazine version included references to the Virgin Mary and Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
that Lowell later removed. Then, many years after the publication of the poem in The Mills of the Kavanaughs, the poem re-appeared in a new version when Lowell released his Selected Poems in 1976. In this volume, he included a significantly shorter version of the poem in which he pared the epic 38 stanza poem down to just five stanzas.
The Shorter Poems
The other poems from the book, all significantly shorter than the title poem, include "Falling Asleep over the Aeneid," "Her Dead Brother," "Mother Marie Therese," "David and Bathsheba in the Public Garden," "The Fat Man in the Mirror" (which is based on a poem by the Austrian poet Franz WerfelFranz Werfel
Franz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
), and "Thanksgiving's Over."
The last poem in the book, "Thanksgiving's Over," is similar to "The Mills of the Kavanaughs" in its basic premise. However, instead of a wife remembering her deceased husband, this time the roles are reversed and the widowed husband remembers his deceased wife (in this poem, the recollection occurs in a dream).
The poem "David and Bathsheba in the Public Garden" would later reappear in Lowell's book For the Union Dead
For the Union Dead
For the Union Dead is a book of poems by Robert Lowell that was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 1964. It was Lowell's sixth book.Notable poems from the collection include "Beyond the Alps'" , "Water," "The Old Flame," "The Public Garden" and the title poem, which is one of Lowell's...
in a revised form under the title "The Public Garden." During Lowell's 1963 public reading at the Guggenheim, he explained that many of his readers expressed confusion over the presence of the Biblical characters of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and Bathsheba
Bathsheba
According to the Hebrew Bible, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. She is most known for the Bible story in which King David seduced her....
being located in a modern park in Boston, and according to Lowell, the characters made the poem "impenetrable." So in order to make the poem more accessible, Lowell decided to completely remove David and Bathsheba from the revised, later version of the poem which was shorter and much more personal.
Response
In a review of the book in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Charles Poore praised the book, writing, "The Mills of the Kavanaughs. . . is a fine new collection of poems in angular, stony meters, sometimes as obscure as one end of an overheard telephone conversation, always savagely brilliant in their hard impact on the mind."
However, Randall Jarrell's
Randall Jarrell
Randall Jarrell was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a role which now holds the title of US Poet Laureate.-Life:Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee...
review of the book in Partisan Review
Partisan Review
Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003, though it suspended publication between October 1936 and December 1937.-Overview:...
was much more measured in its assessment. Although Jarrell liked the handful of shorter poems in the collection, he was critical of the main characters in the epic, title poem, writing, "The people [in 'The Mills of the Kavanaughs'] too often seem to be acting in the manner of Robert Lowell, rather than plausibly as real people act . . .I doubt that many readers will think them real."
The Poetry Foundation website notes that The Mills of the Kavanaughs was "less successful" than Lowell's previous book, Lord Weary's Castle
Lord Weary's Castle
Lord Weary's Castle, Robert Lowell's second book of poetry, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1947 when Lowell was only thirty. Robert Giroux, who was the publisher of Lowell's wife at the time, Jean Stafford, also became Lowell's publisher after he saw the manuscript for Lord Weary's Castle and...
, which had won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
.