TO MR. BUCKENAM by James Russell Lowell: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This poem is a satirical letter from a rural New Englander to a newspaper editor, humorously critiquing the U.S.
The poem
MR. EDITER, As i wuz kinder prunin round, in a little nussry sot out a year or 2 a go, the Dbait in the sennit cum inter my mine An so i took & Sot it to wut I call a nussry rime. I hev made sum onnable Gentlemun speak thut dident speak in a Kind uv Poetikul lie sense the seeson is dreffle backerd up This way ewers as ushul
This poem is a satirical letter from a rural New Englander to a newspaper editor, humorously critiquing the U.S. Senate's discussions on slavery and political cowardice. Lowell intentionally uses misspelled, phonetic dialect to give the speaker a folksy, uneducated tone — yet the humor hits hard. It's part of his *Biglow Papers*, a collection where straightforward country voices tackle political nonsense more effectively than any formal speech.
Line-by-line
MR. EDITER, As i wuz kinder prunin round, in a little nussry sot out a year or 2 a go,
the Dbait in the sennit cum inter my mine An so i took & Sot it to wut I call a nussry rime.
I hev made sum onnable Gentlemun speak thut dident speak in a Kind uv Poetikul lie sense
the seeson is dreffle backerd up This way / ewers as ushul
Tone & mood
The tone appears comic and satirical at first glance, but there's a genuine anger simmering beneath. Lowell adopts the clumsy, misspelled voice of a country farmer to mock the Senate's absurdity — and the humor lies in the stark contrast between the speaker's rough grammar and his clear moral insight. There's also an underlying sense of weary frustration, as if this political backwardness has dragged on for far too long and anyone with common sense can recognize it.
Symbols & metaphors
- The nursery (nussry) — The nursery that the speaker has been tending symbolizes the political ideas Lowell has developed in the *Biglow Papers* series. Pruning a nursery implies careful, patient work, which stands in stark contrast to the chaos and cowardice often found on the Senate floor.
- The nursery rhyme (nussry rime) — By comparing the Senate debate to a nursery rhyme, Lowell diminishes the senators to the status of children — implying their arguments warrant no serious consideration. This is a calculated insult disguised as simple, down-to-earth charm.
- The backward season (dreffle backerd up) — A late, slow-arriving season symbolizes the political and moral progress that seems to stall. In the slavery debate, this metaphor is particularly poignant: the country is long overdue for change, with the Senate acting as the frost that delays the arrival of spring.
- The honorable gentlemen who didn't speak — The silent senators embody political cowardice—individuals who had the opportunity to oppose slavery or take a moral stance but opted for silence. By giving them imagined voices in his poem, Lowell holds them accountable for their inaction.
Historical context
James Russell Lowell published the *Biglow Papers* in two series, starting in 1846 in the *Boston Courier*. He wrote them in reaction to the Mexican-American War and the national turmoil over slavery. To convey his political satire, Lowell created the character of Hosea Biglow, a straightforward Massachusetts farmer, whose unrefined speech allowed him to express ideas that might have seemed too blunt or risky in more refined verse. "To Mr. Buckenam" acts as a framing letter, similar to an editorial preface that introduces one of Hosea's poems to the newspaper editor. While phonetic spelling and dialect writing were common in American literature, Lowell used this technique with a pointed political edge. The poem is part of a larger American debate about who has the right to challenge authority and whether the voice of the common person holds more moral significance than the polished language of politicians.
FAQ
No, the misspellings are totally intentional. Lowell is capturing the voice of a rural New England farmer, and the phonetic spellings ('nussry,' 'sennit,' 'dreffle') are designed to reflect how someone would write based on their speech. This is known as dialect writing, and Lowell excelled at it.
Buckenam is the fictional newspaper editor being addressed by the speaker. The name playfully mimics the sound of 'Buckingham,' and the letter format serves as a familiar device that Lowell employed in the *Biglow Papers* to present his satirical poems as though they were actual submissions from readers.
The poem discusses the U.S. Senate debates in the 1840s regarding slavery and the growth of U.S. territory after the Mexican-American War. Lowell was outraged that many senators who secretly opposed slavery chose to remain quiet instead of jeopardizing their political careers.
The speaker claims he's given voice to senators who remained silent during the actual debate. This is Lowell's way of highlighting political cowardice—these men had the opportunity to oppose slavery but chose not to, so Lowell is envisioning what they *could* have said.
The *Biglow Papers* is a collection of satirical poems and letters that Lowell began publishing in 1846, featuring the voice of Hosea Biglow, a made-up farmer from Massachusetts. Through humor and dialect, these works critique the Mexican-American War, slavery, and political hypocrisy. They gained immense popularity and are regarded as some of the most incisive political satire in 19th-century American literature.
It means "the season is dreadfully backward" — a farming expression indicating that spring is arriving late. Lowell uses it as a metaphor for the continual delays in political and moral progress. In the context of the slavery debate, it's a powerful image: the country is overdue for change.
Yes, but it’s humor with a point. The comedy arises from the contrast between the speaker's gritty, misspelled language and his keen political insight. Lowell suggests that an everyday farmer can grasp the moral truth of the slavery debate better than the educated senators who are meant to be leading the country.
Using a fictional character allowed Lowell to express ideas that might have seemed too extreme or provocative if they had come from a Harvard-educated Boston intellectual. This approach also enhanced the satire; when a farmer labels senators as cowards, it carries a different weight than if a professor were to say the same thing.