Night Sweat Flashcards
What is bi-polar disorder?
A mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings from emotional highs (mania or hypomania) to lows (depression).
How is the poem autobiographical?
Lowell himself suffered from bi-polar disorder. In 1949 he had his first full-blown manic attack in Chicago, where he supposedly dangled a friend out the window while shouting poetry.
Describe Robert Lowell’s relationship to Elizabeth Hardwick.
Elizabeth Hardwick and Robert Lowell were married. Elizabeth stood by Lowell through some very hard times.
Soon after meeting Hardwick, Lowell experienced a violently psychotic phase and had electric shock treatment in hospital.
Hardwick is mentioned in the poem, Night Sweat.
Lowell was serially unfaithful to his wife.
Lowell and Hardwick divorced in 1972.
What is this poem about?
The poem explores the impact of having bi-polar disorder on a writer’s creativity and productivity. This poem in particular explores what it’s like to have writer’s block.
What is a concrete noun?
A person/place or thing that is tangible/ physical.
What is “stalled equipment” a metaphor for?
The writer’s brain
What is the “creeping damp” a metaphor for?
The anxiety, sweat and fear that overtakes a writer when they are unable to write.
What are the following words a semantic field of: “salt”, “embalms”, “wilted”, “white”
What does it suggest?
Death
Death of the writer’s ideas/ creativity
What is the “child who died” a metaphor of?
The youthful creativity within the poet
Who does the poet describe as being “behind me!”? How does the speaker feel about their presence?
His wife (Elizabeth Hardwick)
The speaker seems to feel reassured and comforted.
Why does Lowell use the contrast of “light/lighten” with “leaded”
Perhaps it reflects the constant change in his moods. Or the way that his wife brings light to his life even when he’s feeling weighed down by depression.
What are the “grey skulled horses” a metaphor of?
Death/ the speaker being pulled back to despair.
What does …“your lightness alters everything,and tears the black web from the spider’s sack,” suggest?
That the wife has the power to free him from the web of depression which can so easily entrap. Her “lightness” also suggests that she helps him to see clearly and have a sense of perspective.
