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The Old Glory - FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING
Giving an overview of research and development in weaponry in the maritime and aviation sphere as well as land-based technology, this study looks forward to the effects of emerging innovations on defence policy-making.
- GenresPlays
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
28 people want to read
About the author
Robert Lowell
182 books268 followersRobert Lowell, born Robert Traill Spence Lowell, IV, was an American poet whose works, confessional in nature, engaged with the questions of history and probed the dark recesses of the self. He is generally considered to be among the greatest American poets of the twentieth century.
His first and second books, Land of Unlikeness (1944) and Lord Weary's Castle (for which he received a Pulitzer Prize in 1947, at the age of thirty), were influenced by his conversion from Episcopalianism to Catholicism and explored the dark side of America's Puritan legacy.
Under the influence of Allen Tate and the New Critics, he wrote rigorously formal poetry that drew praise for its exceptionally powerful handling of meter and rhyme. Lowell was politically involved—he became a conscientious objector during the Second World War and was imprisoned as a result, and actively protested against the war in Vietnam—and his personal life was full of marital and psychological turmoil. He suffered from severe episodes of manic depression, for which he was repeatedly hospitalized.
Partly in response to his frequent breakdowns, and partly due to the influence of such younger poets as W. D. Snodgrass and Allen Ginsberg, Lowell in the mid-fifties began to write more directly from personal experience, and loosened his adherence to traditional meter and form. The result was a watershed collection, Life Studies (1959), which forever changed the landscape of modern poetry, much as Eliot's The Waste Land had three decades before.
Considered by many to be the most important poet in English of the second half of the twentieth century, Lowell continued to develop his work with sometimes uneven results, all along defining the restless center of American poetry, until his sudden death from a heart attack at age 60. Robert Lowell served as a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets from 1962 until his death in 1977.
His first and second books, Land of Unlikeness (1944) and Lord Weary's Castle (for which he received a Pulitzer Prize in 1947, at the age of thirty), were influenced by his conversion from Episcopalianism to Catholicism and explored the dark side of America's Puritan legacy.
Under the influence of Allen Tate and the New Critics, he wrote rigorously formal poetry that drew praise for its exceptionally powerful handling of meter and rhyme. Lowell was politically involved—he became a conscientious objector during the Second World War and was imprisoned as a result, and actively protested against the war in Vietnam—and his personal life was full of marital and psychological turmoil. He suffered from severe episodes of manic depression, for which he was repeatedly hospitalized.
Partly in response to his frequent breakdowns, and partly due to the influence of such younger poets as W. D. Snodgrass and Allen Ginsberg, Lowell in the mid-fifties began to write more directly from personal experience, and loosened his adherence to traditional meter and form. The result was a watershed collection, Life Studies (1959), which forever changed the landscape of modern poetry, much as Eliot's The Waste Land had three decades before.
Considered by many to be the most important poet in English of the second half of the twentieth century, Lowell continued to develop his work with sometimes uneven results, all along defining the restless center of American poetry, until his sudden death from a heart attack at age 60. Robert Lowell served as a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets from 1962 until his death in 1977.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 21, 2025
Lowell's plays, adapted from stories by Hawthorne and Melville, stressing the violence of American history, the violence inherent in the American character. It's hard to imagine the plays achieving much of an audience these days, but they are very instructive given the current (2025) attempt to rewrite (whitewash) American history. The poems are written in verse, and it is a very straight forward unadorned verse, that often doesn't feel much like Lowell's poetry at all. Perhaps it is a reflection of the kinds of things many of his contemporaries were doing in the 1960s when these were written. I actually enjoyed seeing Lowell write like that. Characterization in the plays seems pretty thin, subordinated to the ideas of the plays as reflected in the action.
I was drawn to these for several reasons. First, I had never read this book, although it has been on my shelf for almost 50 years. And then I am interested in Lowell, even if I have not been bitten as deeply by him as many others. But really I wanted to read his treatment of Thomas Morton in the first of the plays, "Endicott and the Red Cross." The play itself is rather stylized, but Lowell has done a good job exploring Morton's character and the alternative he provided to American history. This is a moment I am trying to explore right now myself.
I was drawn to these for several reasons. First, I had never read this book, although it has been on my shelf for almost 50 years. And then I am interested in Lowell, even if I have not been bitten as deeply by him as many others. But really I wanted to read his treatment of Thomas Morton in the first of the plays, "Endicott and the Red Cross." The play itself is rather stylized, but Lowell has done a good job exploring Morton's character and the alternative he provided to American history. This is a moment I am trying to explore right now myself.
July 27, 2016
I read Lowell’s translation/adaptation of Racine’s Phaedra several months ago and I thought it was outstanding, so I picked up this book of his plays. I am rather disappointed.
These plays are prosaic (though written in verse) displaying somewhat mysterious language, but no poetic beauty or rhythm as appeared in Phaedra.
It’s a shame. I was hoping for much more. This is not essential reading unless you are a Lowell completist.
Endecott and the Red Cross *** – I’m not quite sure what to make of this, being unfamiliar with this history or the original Hawthorne story. It starts with quirky character, but takes a dark turn at the end. I’m not sure such a dramatic change in direction is warranted.
My Kinsman, Major Molineux *** – This is another strange tale about a young man coming to Boston with his brother to find his kinsman, Major Molineux, the royal governor of the city (or something like that). When they ask about him, they are rebuffed, and later they see the Major brought through the city, tarred and feathered, and eventually killed.
Of the three plays in the book, this was seemed to work the best, though it was far from outstanding. It does a good job creating a sense of mystery and transition.
Benito Cereno *** – This is a morally ambiguous play that sets our sense of right against our sense of right. Are we to have sympathy for Benito Cereno who is a slave trader? Was this an anti-slavery statement, or pro-slavery statement, or neither? Critics still argue about that today.
In Lowell’s hands, the pace is considerably quickened and the plot somewhat simplified. It displays a more modern view of race relations, and emphasizes Delano’s willful blindness that blacks may want the same freedoms and liberties as whites. And it is essentially this blindness that makes Delano unable to see or sense what is happening on the ship.
This seems like a good vehicle for a play. In performance, perhaps it works better, but in reading it lost the dark, ominous suspense of the Melville story. Delano and Perkins are just too full of trite, self-serving sayings and foolish excuses for the ominous things they see. They are not believable.
As noted above, Lowell’s Phaedra was beautifully written with deft use of rhyming couplets. This play is seemingly written in verse, but it is so plain and unadorned it might as well be prose. There is little “elevated speech” and no rhythmic features. The prose is simply broken into short lines.
These plays are prosaic (though written in verse) displaying somewhat mysterious language, but no poetic beauty or rhythm as appeared in Phaedra.
It’s a shame. I was hoping for much more. This is not essential reading unless you are a Lowell completist.
Endecott and the Red Cross *** – I’m not quite sure what to make of this, being unfamiliar with this history or the original Hawthorne story. It starts with quirky character, but takes a dark turn at the end. I’m not sure such a dramatic change in direction is warranted.
My Kinsman, Major Molineux *** – This is another strange tale about a young man coming to Boston with his brother to find his kinsman, Major Molineux, the royal governor of the city (or something like that). When they ask about him, they are rebuffed, and later they see the Major brought through the city, tarred and feathered, and eventually killed.
Of the three plays in the book, this was seemed to work the best, though it was far from outstanding. It does a good job creating a sense of mystery and transition.
Benito Cereno *** – This is a morally ambiguous play that sets our sense of right against our sense of right. Are we to have sympathy for Benito Cereno who is a slave trader? Was this an anti-slavery statement, or pro-slavery statement, or neither? Critics still argue about that today.
In Lowell’s hands, the pace is considerably quickened and the plot somewhat simplified. It displays a more modern view of race relations, and emphasizes Delano’s willful blindness that blacks may want the same freedoms and liberties as whites. And it is essentially this blindness that makes Delano unable to see or sense what is happening on the ship.
This seems like a good vehicle for a play. In performance, perhaps it works better, but in reading it lost the dark, ominous suspense of the Melville story. Delano and Perkins are just too full of trite, self-serving sayings and foolish excuses for the ominous things they see. They are not believable.
As noted above, Lowell’s Phaedra was beautifully written with deft use of rhyming couplets. This play is seemingly written in verse, but it is so plain and unadorned it might as well be prose. There is little “elevated speech” and no rhythmic features. The prose is simply broken into short lines.
April 27, 2019
The Old Glory includes 3 plays: 2 based on short stories written by Nathaniel Hawthorne about America before it officially became a country (Endecott & the Red Cross and My Kinsman, Major Molineux). The third play is based on Melville’s Benito Cereno. And apparently it is the best regarded of the 3.
Having read My Kinsman, Major Molineux and Benito Cereno before, I prefer the original versions. Particularly for Melville's Benito Cereno. However reading these three plays together did bring out some themes that run throughout each, particularly about what it means to be an American and how that compares to citizens of other countries.
Having read My Kinsman, Major Molineux and Benito Cereno before, I prefer the original versions. Particularly for Melville's Benito Cereno. However reading these three plays together did bring out some themes that run throughout each, particularly about what it means to be an American and how that compares to citizens of other countries.
July 15, 2019
Good, not great.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews