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A poem about a woman who walks in a garden in a stiff brocaded gown, mourning the death of her fiancé in a war. The poem explores the contrast between the patterns of nature and the patterns of society, and the irony of wearing a dress that conceals her softness and passion.
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‘Patterns’ by Amy Lowellis a moving war poem in which a woman contends with the death of her fiancé. The poem begins with the speaker describing walking out to the garden in a beautiful, stiff gown and admiring the various flowers growing around her. Almost immediately, the poet presents readers with examples of juxtaposition. The woman should if o...
The meaning is that patterns control our lives, from love to war, mourning, and joy. Throughout, the speaker alludes to the pattern she had been living prior to her engagement. She knew that her loving fiancé and her upcoming marriage were going to help her move into a better pattern for the rest of her life. But, another pattern, the war, took tha...
Amy Lowell engages with themes of a woman’s role in society, loss, war, and more within her poem ‘Patterns.’ Throughout, the poet alludes to the speaker’s dissatisfaction with her life prior to her engagement to her now-deceased fiancé. She thought that she was going to escape into a more joyful and loving pattern to live throughout the rest of her...
‘Patterns’ by Amy Lowell is a seven-stanza poem that is written in free verse. This means that the poet did not use a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. The lines end with very different words and have different numbers of syllables in each line. The stanzasvary in length, ranging from nine lines up to twenty-two.
Throughout this poem, the poet makes use of several literary devices. These include but are not limited to: 1. Repetition: occurs when the poet repeatsa specific element of the poem. This could be an image, word, phrase, technique, etc. In this case, the poet repetitively refers to the speaker’s gown and the flowers surrounding her. The dress repre...
Stanza One
In the poem’s first lines, the speaker begins by describing a walk she took down a garden path. On all sides, she is surrounded by beautiful flowers. She details the surroundings while also noting how she too, in her “brocaded gown” and with her “powdered hair,” is a “rare / Pattern.” The word “rare” is interesting to analyze in this context. Specifically, it becomes clear what the speaker has just learned about her fiancé. (She is certainly not the only woman who lost a would-be husband in t...
Stanza Two
The second stanza is longer than the first but, spends its lines similarly. She describes her dress, its train, her heels, and the jewelry she’s wearing. She seems far overdressed for her surroundings and makes a beautiful and sorrowful sight as she walks along to the garden. Words like “sink,” “stiff,” and “weep” make it clear that the speaker is not walking through the garden simply for the pleasure of it. She has learned something about her life and, to come to terms with it is walking in...
Stanza Three
The speaker is tuned into all the small happenings around her. From small petals falling from flowers to the splashing of water drops from the “marble fountain. “The “dripping never stops,” she says. Here, the water dripping onto the path is a symbolof the disruption the speaker has experienced in her own life. The seeming perfection of this idealized natural world is interrupted by the dripping fountain just as the news the speaker has recently learned about her fiancé has severely changed h...
Readers who enjoyed this poem should also consider reading some other Amy Lowell poems. For example: 1. ‘The Garden by Moonlight’– describes a garden under the light of the moon and the various types of life one can spot around it. 2. ‘A Lady’– analyzes an old woman and her worth. She’s beautiful and faded, and the speaker decides to dedicate her “...
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- October 9, 1995
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Patterns Lyrics. I walk down the garden paths, And all the daffodils. Are blowing, and the bright blue squills. I walk down the patterned garden-paths. In my stiff, brocaded gown. With my...
“Patterns” is a 1917 modernist poem written by American poet Amy Lowell. Originally published in the magazine The Little Review, the poem received positive attention, and “Patterns” became one of...
May 13, 2011 · Read, review and discuss the Patterns poem by Amy Lowell on Poetry.com.
Patterns. Amy Lowell. While at first “Patterns” appears to be a straightforward celebration of springtime, Lowell’s poem quickly defies readers’ expectations. The poem follows a speaker walking through her garden and commenting on the flowers and fixtures.
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Sep 5, 2023 · Discussion of themes and motifs in Amy Lowell's Patterns. eNotes critical analyses help you gain a deeper understanding of Patterns so you can excel on your essay or test.
