Amy Lowell was undoubtedly one of the most significant poets of the early 20th century. She became well known and gained international notoriety thanks to her tremendous writing talent and skills. The fifth kid in a family of five, Lowell was born in 1874. Lowell received all of his education at home. She never pursued a college education because back then, women were viewed as less valuable than males, and as a result, they were not expected to attend school. When Lowell was very young, she was an avid reader, and the thought of becoming a poet inspired her. In 1921, she made her very first publication, and in her lifetime Lowell wrote more than 650 poems. Her works were masterpieces and captivating. The determination and devotion in poetry made her earn the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1926. Undoubtedly, The Captured Goddess is one of Lowell’s well-written poems that have remained to be influential even in the modern world. In this poem, she succeeds in evoking an aspect of mystical experience and divinity in the reader through the descriptions she gives of the stones, colors, and flowers. As such, Lowell manages to navigate and traverse the reader through the experience that goddess faces shedding light to the central ideas in the poem including naturalism of modernism and feminism.
Summary of the Poem The Captured Goddess
In this poem, Lowell writes about a divine creature, goddess. The narrator of the poem speaks of a goddess having rainbow feathers which she places above the town. The lively goddess is compared to the bark appearance evident in the town. The author makes use of the many details in describing the mystical experience of the goddess woman. In the entire poem, Lowell shows that the goddess is represented by the flowers, the nature and also multiple colors. Clearly, the goddess character used in this poem portrays Lowell herself (Cisewski). This is manifested in the way she strived to become somebody that other people would emulate is the society. As the poem progresses, the goddess gets captured in the marketplace. After her capture, men surround her and want to sale her for god and silver currencies. Here, the poem changes from the overall uplifting and happy mood that was seen at first to a sad, somber and desperate one. In The Captured Goddess poem, the vivid color that is first mentioned in the poem seems to disappear. The narrator says that the town had no sunshine and was filled with grey wind. The poem eventually comes to an end, and the speaker leaves the town running away from the sight of the captured goddess. The goddess in this poem is indeed vibrant and beautiful. She is highly looked upon, and the narrator follows her throughout the town to the marketplace where she is captured. The speaker then runs away from the market place.
How The Captured Goddess is related to Naturalism
The core of poetic Naturalism is to use a philosophical approach to naturalism that encourages different ways of talking about issues happening in the universe through utilizing a language that is dependent on an aspect of reality. Naturalism alludes to natural things. Lowell in this poem demonstrates naturalism, and she manages to achieve this through incorporating imagism in the poem The Captured Goddess. She uses pictures in her attempt to draw a sensual image to the mind of the reader which portrays naturalism. To start with, the image of the goddess is described as "a shiver of amethyst, / and blue and cinnamon" (Lowell 3-4). The image of the goddess is naturally represented despite having come from heaven. The goddess conjures the notion of beauty, luxury and wealth in the world when she descends from heaven. The goddess is a divine being and is bound by the similar structures, and she becomes powerless to rescue herself when she becomes trapped.
Undeniably, Lowell derives significance in using colors and flowers which depict to be a great symbol in her work. This idea is evident in lines 24- 25 where she writes “Saffrons, rubies, the yellows of beryls/ And the indigo-blue of quartz/ Flights of rose, layers of chrysoprase/ Points of orange, spirals of vermilion/ The spotted gold of tiger-lily petals/ The loud pink of bursting hydrangeas” (Lowell 24-25). This lines contain color which gives the goddess the attractive appearance. Naturalism is thus evident in these lines and they portray the nature of the universe with the use of the flowers.
The men who surround her also try to capture the goddess using gold and silver and the image of a beautiful creature is evident creating naturalism. The poem reveals that in the early 20th century, there were tremendous changes in the way the world was understating many poetry artists. The significant changes that were occurring during this time illuminated a world of modernism and made people to know that it was essential in creating art to reflect the complicated reality in the society (Samberger 13). Notably, Lowell, similar to many artists built abstract art of naturalism in their works. This was aimed to feature the multi-layered modernism which was revolutionizing the 20th century. There is no doubt that Lowell’s poem is pleasing to the reader and commands attention due to the use of vast imagery and color (Samberger 27). The ending of the poem is also surprising especially because of the way the goddess is treated in the marketplace. She is stripped naked, and the men watch her. Evidently, towards the end of the poem, there is a disappointment both to the narrator and the reader. The idea that the goddess is bound by the men at the marketplace and is offered for sale is a shock to the reader. The poem connects the colors with the localities and the goddess moves in them producing naturalism. The connection created is intense, and evidently, three realism namely place, womanhood, and color merge into each other forming a dynamic which the reader could represent the movement of the goddess woman.
Feminism in the poem The Captured Goddess
Lowell’s poem uses a feminist approach to chronicle the pursuits of women to become free from the patriarchal societal norms that only work to dehumanize them. Historically, many women struggled for equality in the society. Gender prejudices that favored men propagated inferiority in women and the roles of the female gender diminished women. The feminist movement emanated to battle the societal stereotypes that denied the female gender freedom and opportunities such as education. The Captured Goddess poem is feminists and is evident from the refusal to conform to the societal norms. It correctly contributes to the feminist interpretation and indicates a feeling of being trapped within the confines of the society. Societal expectations of women are demanding and tend to lessen the value of women. The poem suggests that this can be completely destroyed. The poem starts with the attractive and beautiful description of the neighborhood which makes the reader assume that the narrator is taking a stroll in the late evening. Again, the author uses the words like “a shiver of amethyst,” and “blue and cinnamon have flickered,” (Lowell 4-5). The description makes the reader imagine the picture of a beautiful goddess having wings that are fascinating. The attractiveness of the wings makes the narrator say “I cared not where she led me,” (Lowell 18). This illustrates womanhood and the author see women as being a beautiful creature who is capable of bursting into the rainbow colors.
The speaker follows the goddess woman depicting her to be pure and brand new. Here, one could conclude that the goddess is a different woman who has refused to confine to the societal stereotypes which define who a woman is. Noting that the goddess is pure translate to a meaning that she does not consider the traditional ways but decides to be pure. In line 32 where she says that “fastened to her sides with cords,” could be interpreted to mean the loss of innocence from the goddess woman. The goddess is not enlightened and does not what to follow the old ways of life. This illuminates the breakaway from the binding societal norms that have worked to undermine the role of women in the society.
The idea that the men opt to attract the woman using the gold and silver currency depict prostitution and the way men want to have sexual relations with women with the exchange of money. The woman rejects the men and “the Goddess wept” after the men try to buy her into prostitution (Lowell 40). This shows the struggles that the women went through in early 20th century in order to survive in the society that marginalized the female gender. The goddess is currently pure and beautiful, but at first, she was exposed to cruel social realities. Initially, she was expected to confirm the societal norms and expectations and carry out herself in a way that would please men even if she did not like the idea. The cruelty of the traditional norms left the goddess broken, scared and was beaten. Through this, the author tried to provide an inside look at what it took to be e real woman at the time when the society was male-dominated. Women who tried to rebel the tradition were beaten and tortured. The poem is also an exact representation of why Lowell chose to follow her path despite having been born in the era when women were underrated. The torture that the goddess goes through is striking her naked t the marketplace where there are many people.
The poem itself states that the narrator sees a false of color over the rooftops of the town. These colors are beautiful when compared to the dusty backdrop landscape of the town. The goddess flies gracefully over the town denoting independence. Lowell’s poem is also against male domination, greed, and corruption. The men who capture the goddess at the marketplace remove her clothes and this also shows lust. The imagery used of vibrant woman means that the goddess is renewed and is not afraid of the societal expectations that are placed on her. The description that is provided at the marketplace makes the reader get to know how the townspeople and especially the men behave. Notably, the poem evidence how the society is greed and demoralizes women denoting a feminist approach.
Conclusion
Lowell was determined in her works and made a better contribution to poetry. Her intellectual keenness and the ability to move people through her poems earned her the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Besides, she has remained to be one of the most remarkable artists of the 19th century whose poems still have an influence in the modern world. Her poem, The Captured Goddess, is a masterpiece that depicts her to have been an extraordinarily brave woman. Her imaginations were put into writing in a way that was captivating. Undeniably, Lowell was a hero of unimaginable weight. The poem, The Captured Goddess focuses on naturalism and feminism and evidence how these themes are reveled in the modern world. Through naturalism, he used imagines and colors that make the poem an interesting read. Perhaps, her aim to showcase feminism in her poem made the poem to be recognized and be termed to be an important one in fighting for the rights of women. The reader gets to understand how the goddess frees herself from the oppressive societal expectations that are placed on women. For this reasons, Lowell’s poems will continue to impact the world in various ways.
Works Cited
Cisewski Katie. American Literature: Analysis of The Captured Goddess. American Poetry. https://americanpoetryprojectspring10.wikispaces.com/Cisewski. Accessed 30 November 2017.
Lowell Amy. The Captured Goddess. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/captured-goddess. Accessed 30 November 2017.
Samberger, Sonja. Artistic Outlaws: The Modernist Poetics of Edith Sitwell, Amy Lowell, Gertrude Stein and H.D. Munster, Lit-Verlag, 2004.
