The Atlantic

Lowell’s letters to Sedgwick portray two people with extremely different tastes and views on poetry, and even what exactly they considered poetry to be. Lowell’s letters to Sedgwick are infused with her voice, and charisma, and her strong belief in her work—especially that of free verse, modern and imagist forms of poetry. Whereas Sedgwick despite also having a passion for poetry had a favor for a more traditional sense. Lowell often commented that her poems would probably not be published with quips at Sedgwick's choice of poems he chose to take and how he chose to describe them. However, they both shared a love for poetry and through their correspondence continued to work together to publish and appreciate poetry even through disagreement. The letters our group has selected to transcribe and include within our edition reflect these clashing views—Lowell is someone who is quite aware of Sedgwick’s tastes, something he does not attempt to hide in his correspondences. Yet despite knowing that her work does not often align with his more traditional and often stricter tastes, Lowell continues to offer up various pieces of her work for publication in The Atlantic throughout many years.