THE SAME CONCLUDED by James Russell Lowell: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This sonnet suggests that a true poet needs to see beyond the confines of everyday human existence and focus on something eternal and uplifting.
The poem
Far 'yond this narrow parapet of Time, With eyes uplift, the poet's soul should look Into the Endless Promise, nor should brook One prying doubt to shake his faith sublime; To him the earth is ever in her prime And dewiness of morning; he can see Good lying hid, from all eternity, Within the teeming womb of sin and crime; His soul should not be cramped by any bar, His nobleness should be so Godlike high, That his least deed is perfect as a star, His common look majestic as the sky, And all o'erflooded with a light from far, Undimmed by clouds of weak mortality. XX
This sonnet suggests that a true poet needs to see beyond the confines of everyday human existence and focus on something eternal and uplifting. Lowell believes that a poet shouldn't allow doubt to undermine their faith and should be capable of recognizing goodness even amid sin and suffering. As a result, the poet's smallest actions reflect the weight and beauty of a star or the vastness of the open sky.
Line-by-line
Far 'yond this narrow parapet of Time, / With eyes uplift, the poet's soul should look
Into the Endless Promise, nor should brook / One prying doubt to shake his faith sublime;
To him the earth is ever in her prime / And dewiness of morning;
he can see / Good lying hid, from all eternity, / Within the teeming womb of sin and crime;
His soul should not be cramped by any bar, / His nobleness should be so Godlike high,
That his least deed is perfect as a star, / His common look majestic as the sky,
And all o'erflooded with a light from far, / Undimmed by clouds of weak mortality.
Tone & mood
The tone is sincere and heartfelt — Lowell truly believes in his message and wants you to grasp its significance. There’s no hint of irony or hesitation. The poem comes across like a manifesto shared from a pulpit, yet the vivid imagery prevents it from feeling distant: morning dew, stars, open sky, and radiant light all add warmth and sensory richness to the argument. By the final couplet, the tone feels almost like a hymn.
Symbols & metaphors
- The parapet of Time — A low defensive wall marks the boundaries of human, earthly existence. Its "narrow" design highlights just how limiting ordinary life can feel in contrast to the vastness that lies beyond.
- Morning dew — Freshness, renewal, and a pristine view of the world. It shows the poet's gift for seeing the earth as always new instead of exhausted.
- The star — Natural, effortless perfection. A star doesn’t *try* to shine — it just shines. Lowell uses this to highlight the quality that a poet's actions should embody: flawless without any effort.
- Light from far — Divine or transcendent inspiration that comes from beyond the human realm. It overwhelms the poet's essence and can't be hindered by typical human frailties.
- Clouds of weak mortality — Human frailty, doubt, and smallness—these are the qualities that can overshadow greatness in everyday people. The ideal poet remains untouched by them.
- The teeming womb of sin and crime — A striking image of fertility emerging from darkness. It conveys the notion that goodness and suffering are intertwined, with goodness arising from within suffering — something only the poet can truly perceive.
Historical context
James Russell Lowell wrote this sonnet as part of a sequence that delves into the nature and purpose of the poet. The title "The Same Concluded" indicates that it concludes an argument started in an earlier poem. Lowell was active in the 1840s, a time when American writers were passionately discussing what it meant to have a uniquely American literary identity. He was significantly influenced by English Romantics like Keats and Wordsworth, as well as the Transcendentalist ideas that were popular among Emerson and his contemporaries in New England. Central to Romantic thought on both sides of the Atlantic was the idea that poets occupy a special, almost sacred role in society, able to see truths that escape the average person. Lowell's sonnet firmly aligns with this tradition, employing the structured Petrarchan form—where the octave presents a concept and the sestet explores its implications—to advocate for a vision of the poet as a nearly divine figure who rises above human limitations.
FAQ
It indicates that this sonnet is the final piece in a brief sequence. The preceding poem presented an argument about the poet's role, and this one concludes that argument. While it can stand alone, the title suggests that Lowell is bringing an idea he began earlier to a close.
It’s Lowell’s way of describing the boundless, divine potential that lies beyond everyday time and human existence. Imagine it as the horizon the poet is meant to gaze upon—an endless promise of goodness and meaning that persists, even when the world seems bleak.
It follows the Petrarchan (Italian) format. The poem is split into an octave (eight lines) that presents the main argument and a sestet (six lines) that explores its implications. The octave uses the traditional ABBA ABBA rhyme scheme, while the sestet wraps up with a couplet that delivers the final image.
This is the most surprising idea in the poem. Lowell taps into a Romantic and Transcendentalist view that the universe is inherently good, even when it seems corrupt on the surface. The poet's unique talent lies in recognizing that hidden goodness — to observe the worst of human behavior and still uncover the potential for something better within it.
Here, it refers to *tolerate* or *put up with*. Lowell is emphasizing that the poet must not let even a hint of doubt slip in and undermine his faith. This is an older meaning of the word that you might still encounter in formal writing.
An ideal. Lowell is outlining what a poet *ought* to be rather than praising a specific individual. The frequent use of the word "should" throughout the poem emphasizes this point. He is establishing a standard — essentially a job description for the most elevated version of the poetic vocation.
It reflects the everyday human weaknesses — the doubt, fear, pettiness, and physical limitations that come with being mortal. Lowell uses "weak" not as an insult but as a straightforward description: these are the traits that can naturally overshadow human greatness. The ideal poet, filled with transcendent light, remains unaffected by them.
Several core Transcendentalist ideas are evident in it: the belief that the material world hints at a deeper spiritual reality, that some individuals can grasp truths that escape ordinary perception, and that goodness is inherent in existence, even when it’s not apparent. Lowell was closely connected to the literary circles in Boston and Cambridge, where Emerson's ideas were frequently debated, and this poem feels almost like a poetic adaptation of Emerson's essay *The Poet*.