The Dolphin

Robert Lowell Poem: Dolphin, 1972 My Dolphin, you only guide me by surprise, a captive as Racine, the man of craft, drawn through his maze of iron composition by the incomparable wandering voice of Phèdre. When I was troubled in mind, you made for my body caught in its hangman’s-knot of sinking lines, the glassy bowing and scraping of my will. . . . I have sat and listened to too many words of the collaborating muse, and plotted perhaps too freely with my life, not avoiding injury to others, not avoiding injury to myself-- to ask compassion . . . this book, half fiction, an eelnet made by man for the eel fighting my eyes have seen what my hand did. This was written during the postermodern/contemporary era in literature, and this poem is definitely categorized as contemporary. It’s experimental in the sense that it uses free verse and is anti-conventional. The poem centers around the idea of life being spontaneous, his life feeling out of control, and his manic depressive state. The dolphin symbolizes the force which guides him through life; it takes him on a lot of ups and downs but tries its best to lead him in the right direction. The poem also touches on the idea of life being a trap, like the idea of being “caught in its hangman knots of sinking lines.” Lowell also uses repetition to convey his sense of inescapable doom, as noted when he says “not avoiding injury to others, not avoiding injury to myself.” We want to pity him after these lines because they carry such a heavy emotional burden. I can only imagine the pain Lowell suffered through his depression and mania, and this poem reflects that feeling.