Figurines in Old Saxe

Quiz — "Figurines in Old Saxe" (Patterns) by Amy Lowell

1. Recall – Form: What type of verse does Amy Lowell use in "Patterns," and how does it reflect the poem's central themes?

1. Recall – Speaker: Who is the speaker of the poem, and where does the action of the poem take place?

1. Recall – Key Image: What item of clothing is repeatedly highlighted as a symbol of physical and social constraint, and what specific structural feature makes it particularly restrictive?

1. Recall – Plot: What is the piece of news the speaker receives, and how does she learn of it?

1. Comprehension – Tone Shift: Describe the progression of the poem's tone from its opening to its final stanza. What causes the most dramatic shift in tone?

1. Comprehension – Symbolism: What do the formal garden paths symbolize in the poem? In what way does the speaker's relationship to these paths reinforce the poem's central argument?

1. Comprehension – Fantasy Sequence: What role do the daydream or fantasy sequences play in the poem? What do they reveal about the speaker's inner life versus her outward circumstances?

1. Analysis – War as Pattern: In the closing section of the poem, Lowell connects war to the poem's central metaphor. Explain what she means by treating war as a "pattern," and how this broadens the poem's critique beyond gender alone.

1. Analysis – Final Exclamation: The poem ends with a sudden outburst of raw grief and anger. How does the precise, controlled language that precedes this moment affect the emotional impact of the ending?

1. Analysis – Context: How does Amy Lowell's biographical background and historical moment — including her place in the Imagist movement and the context of World War One — shape the poem's themes and technique?

Answer Key

1. Lowell uses free verse with irregular line lengths. This form mirrors the tension between freedom and constraint: the verse resists rigid structure just as the speaker longs to resist social "patterns."

1. The speaker is an aristocratic woman (a lady of the estate). The action takes place in the formal garden of her estate, where she walks along the garden paths.

1. The brocaded gown is repeatedly highlighted as a symbol of constraint. Its whalebone corset is the most physically restrictive feature, preventing the speaker's body from softening or yielding naturally.

1. She learns through a formal military notification letter — tucked inside her dress — that her fiancé, Lord Hartwell, was killed in battle.

1. The tone begins with restless, ironic self-awareness, moves into sensual longing during the fantasy sequences, then becomes cold and controlled upon the revelation of the death. The final stanza shifts to bleak resignation before bursting into raw grief and anger. The arrival of the death letter causes the most dramatic tonal shift.

1. The formal garden paths symbolize the prescribed routes society creates for individuals, especially women. Because the speaker can only walk along these set paths and cannot stray, her movement in the garden mirrors her inability to escape the rules of class, gender, and propriety.

1. The fantasy sequences reveal the speaker's hidden inner life — her capacity for sensual freedom, playfulness, and deep love — which exists in direct contrast to the rigid exterior imposed by her gown and social role. They underscore how much is suppressed by social "patterns."

1. By identifying war as a "pattern," Lowell argues that war, like dress codes and social conventions, is an arbitrary, man-made system of rules — one that is equally rigid and destructive, but with far deadlier consequences. This expands the poem's critique from the constraints on women to the broader, lethal systems that govern all human life.

1. The precise, controlled, and vivid language throughout the poem makes the final outburst feel all the more shocking and emotionally powerful by contrast. The restraint of the earlier lines mirrors the speaker's own enforced self-control, so when it finally breaks, the grief and anger feel genuine and overwhelming.

1. Lowell's identity as a Boston Brahmin who lived outside conventional social norms gave her firsthand experience of rigid social expectations, informing the speaker's frustration. As an Imagist, she favored sharp, concrete imagery over Victorian sentimentality, which explains the poem's precise, sensory language. Published in 1915, the poem channels the real losses of World War One, lending its anti-war sentiment urgent contemporary relevance despite its 18th-century setting.