Home After Three Months Away

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1959

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

How the Flowers Symbolize the Speaker’s Compromised Condition

The flowers in Stanza 3 arguably represent Lowell’s current state. The speaker—Lowell, his poetic persona—describes the flowers as “[b]ushed” (Line 36). They’re tired of dealing with the harsh winter. Spring brought them little relief as a “late spring snow” (Line 36) further compromised their former beauty, so “now no one need / distinguish them from weed” (Lines 34-35).

After describing the downfall of the flowers, Lowell shines the spotlight on himself and his lackluster state. Thus, the flowers seem to symbolize Lowell’s condition. Like the flowers, Lowell isn’t “pedigreed” (Line 33) since he has “no rank nor station” (Line 39). Similar to the frazzled flowers, Lowell is “frizzled, stale and small” (Line 40). The flowers aren’t blooming, and neither is Lowell. Lowell is supposed to be “[r]ecuperating” (Line 28) and “[c]ured” (Line 40). Yet, based on his presentation of himself, he’s not in great shape. The flowers symbolize Lowell’s fatigued, harried condition because they aren’t prospering either.

How the Mother Represent Reality and Seriousness

In the poem, “the Mother” appears only once in Line 3. Yet her presence carries significant symbolic weight. The mom receives no comparison to an animal or nature. She’s left alone. The speaker further separates the mom from the rest of the characters in the poem by turning her into a proper noun—that is, she’s not a mom but “the Mother” (Line 3). Even though the nurse has the power to make the mom cry, the mom has status because of her capitalized title.

The tears also symbolize human emotion, which doesn’t explicitly occur elsewhere in the poem. The nurse appears harsh but more sympathetic to the birds than human beings like the mom. Meanwhile, Lowell plays with his daughter in the bathtub and comes across as flippant about his time in the hospital since he describes it as a “child’s play” (Line 19). Lowell seems to think of himself more in the context of flowers than as a human. Thus, the mom’s tears allow for the presence of human feelings.

Additionally, the tears symbolize the reality of the situation. With a husband gone and a callous nurse, it makes sense for the mom to feel upset and cry. More so, if the question in Line 11 is in the words of Elizabeth Hardwick, or her character in the poem, then the mom seems to be the only character in the poem confronting Lowell’s state. She wants to know, “Is Richard now himself again?” (Line 11). The reality that Lowell plays with or projects onto other things, the mom faces with her blunt inquiry. She directly addresses the condition of her husband.

The Idea of Other, Mysterious Voices

A motif that arises at parts in Lowell’s poem is disembodied voices. A few times, there’s the sense that someone else is talking beside the speaker. In Line 10, someone chants, “Three months, three months!” It’s unclear who says this. Perhaps, it’s multiple people, like a chorus. Lowell brings in a choir to reinforce the amount of time he’s been away. Considering Lowell’s “frizzled, stale and small” (Line 40) state, it’s hard to assign the chant to Lowell as his enervation seems to preclude the strength to make exclamations like the type in Line 10.

The idea of other voices continues in the following line when someone asks, “Is Richard now himself again?” (Line 11). Research indicates that the mom, Lowell’s wife Elizabeth Hardwick, poses this question. Yet a closed reading of the poem might produce a different interpretation, and a reader might conclude that this is another case of an unidentifiable voice haunting “Richard” or Lowell.

Additionally, Lowell brings in enigmatic voices when he states, “[T]hey tell me nothing’s gone” (Line 16). It’s unclear who the “they” are or why they inform him nothing has “gone” or changed. The words “[r]ecuperating” (Line 28) and “[c]ured” (Line 40) also seem to belong to another voice, as Lowell doesn’t present himself as getting better or well. Perhaps these voices belong to opaque doctors. Maybe he mimics their voices to demonstrate the gap between their optimism and his bleak reality.