Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Skunk Hour - Papers Online

Skunk Hour

by Robert Lowell and The Armadillo by Elizabeth Bishop are two closely related poems. Both share the theme of an animal carrying with it natural defenses, and the image of an isolated spectator. However, there is one important contrast between these poems: The Armadillo portrays a creature who cannot comprehend the events destroying the life about it, whereas the speaker in understands, possibly too well, the events affecting its life.
By using the skunk as a descriptive element for his character, Robert Lowell increases the distance between the character and the brief glimpse of society portrayed in the poem. Skunks, generally, are avoided by everyone because of their reputation ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

his character as something akin to a stalker, illustrated in the following excerpt.

One dark night,

my Tudor Ford climbed the hill’s skull;

I watched for love-cars.

(Lowell 25-27)

Why would anyone be out alone, searching for lovers who do not desire intrusion? The

speaker answers this question in the second half of the stanza.

Lights turned down,

they lay together, hull to hull,

where the graveyard shelves on the town…

My mind’s not right.

(Lowell 27-30)

Here, the speaker admits his actions are wrong. Later in this paper, the fact that the speaker in Skunk Hour is lonely will become an important contrast to the character in The Armadillo.

At the end of the poem, Lowell contrasts as well as likens the character to the nocturnal skunk.

Nobody’s here –

only skunks, that search

in the moonlight for ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Skunk Hour. (2005, July 18). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Skunk-Hour/30246

"Skunk Hour." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 18 Jul. 2005. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Skunk-Hour/30246>

"Skunk Hour." Essayworld.com. July 18, 2005. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Skunk-Hour/30246.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 7/18/2005 09:49:01 AM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 819
Pages: 3

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier