--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a sense, I never got over Robert…" description: "\"In a sense, I never got over Robert Lowell's History. A flawed, infinitely brilliant project I never tire of going back to. It's a modern Inferno, wher..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/andre-naffis-sahely-20813_bitter_in-a-sense-i-never-got-over-robert-lowel_1923198.jpg" --- # In a sense, I never got over Robert Lowell's History. A… ![“In a sense, I never got over Robert Lowell's History. A flawed, infinitely brilliant project I never tire of going back to. It's a modern Inferno, where Lowell plays both Dante and Virgil, guiding us through dozens of illuminating, bitter episodes from human history, all the while managing to hold…” quote by Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/andre-naffis-sahely-20813_bitter_in-a-sense-i-never-got-over-robert-lowel_1923198.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/andre-naffis-sahely-20813_bitter_in-a-sense-i-never-got-over-robert-lowel_1923198.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/andre-naffis-sahely-20813_bitter_in-a-sense-i-never-got-over-robert-lowel_1923198.jpg) > “In a sense, I never got over Robert Lowell's History. A flawed, infinitely brilliant project I never tire of going back to. It's a modern Inferno, where Lowell plays both Dante and Virgil, guiding us through dozens of illuminating, bitter episodes from human history, all the while managing to hold a mirror to our confused hominid face as it squints at eternity and fails to grasp any of it.” [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author sees Lowell’s epic poem as a modern Inferno, simultaneously guiding and reflecting humanity’s flawed, eternal quest for meaning. **In simple terms:** Lowell’s work is a guide through humanity’s bitter history, like a modern Inferno. Key Takeaway Engage with challenging art to confront collective history. Themes literature history humanity reflection eternity Mood analytical contemplative somber Type critical educational When to use this quote - academic study - book clubs - creative workshops - personal contemplation - public lectures Key Concepts mythology critical theory poetics Questions to Reflect On - What personal histories do you see mirrored in the poem? - How does confronting darkness shape your worldview? A Different Perspective The poem’s complexity can alienate readers lacking context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitter/) [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [Confused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confused/) [Dante Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dante-virgil-2965468/) [Dozen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dozen/) [Episodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/episodes/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Failing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failing/) [Flawed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flawed/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hominids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hominids/) [Human history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-history/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Illuminating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illuminating/) [Inferno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferno/) [Inferno Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferno-lowell-2965466/) [Lowell Plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lowell-plays-2965467/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Plays Dante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plays-dante-2965469/) [Projects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/projects/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robert-lowell-1523499/) [Tire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tire/) ## Related quotes > [“A reflection on Robert Lowell Robert Lowell knew I was not one of his devotees. I attended his famous “office hours” salon only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pinsky/a-reflection-on-robert-lowell-robert-lowell-knew-i-was-not-one-of-his/) [Robert Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pinsky/) > [“The top eleven are, in order, T. S. Eliot’s “Prufrock,” Robert Lowell’s “Skunk Hour,” Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” William…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-top-eleven-are-in-order-t-s-eliot-s-prufrock-robert-lowell-s/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [One of my very favourite poets was a Massachusetts poet named Robert Lowell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lanegan/one-of-my-very-favourite-poets-was-a-massachusetts-poet-named-robert/) [Mark Lanegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lanegan/) > [Even though Helen Vendler wasn't on the Harvard faculty when I came first in 1979, she was a guardian spirit; Robert Fitzgerald gave me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/even-though-helen-vendler-wasn-t-on-the-harvard-faculty-when-i-came/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [And Robert Lowell, of course - in his poems, we're not located in his actual life. We're located more in the externals, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/and-robert-lowell-of-course-in-his-poems-we-re-not-located-in-his/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [“On The Death of Robert Lowell by Eileen Myles O, I don’t give a shit. He was an old white haired man Insensate beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-myles/on-the-death-of-robert-lowell-by-eileen-myles-o-i-don-t-give-a-shit/) [Eileen Myles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-myles/) > [“You never know that. I don't know it; Robert Lowell doesn't know it; John Berryman didn't know it; and Shakespeare probably didn't know it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/you-never-know-that-i-don-t-know-it-robert-lowell-doesn-t-know-it/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [The entire hominid collection known today would barely cover a billiard table, ... the collection is so tantalizingly incomplete, and the specimens themselves often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-reader/the-entire-hominid-collection-known-today-would-barely-cover-a/) [John Reader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-reader/) > [I think we're going to move from a Homo sapiens into a Homo evolutis: ... a hominid that takes direct and deliberate control over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-enriquez/i-think-we-re-going-to-move-from-a-homo-sapiens-into-a-homo-evolutis/) [Juan Enriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-enriquez/) > [“Hominids are all the Neanderthals, australopithecines, Homo habili, Homo erecti, etc., the upright-walking apes of which we are the only surviving species.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-quirk/hominids-are-all-the-neanderthals-australopithecines-homo-habili-homo/) [Joe Quirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-quirk/) > [Hominids typically haven't so much adapted to change, as they have accommodated to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-tattersall/hominids-typically-haven-t-so-much-adapted-to-change-as-they-have/) [Ian Tattersall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-tattersall/) > [We spent an enormous amount of time as hominids and as primates living as hunter-gatherers. That is the natural way for us to live,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/we-spent-an-enormous-amount-of-time-as-hominids-and-as-primates/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [Because I am interested in the growth and development of early hominids, I play with my kids, you know, looking at their teeth or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeresenay-alemseged/because-i-am-interested-in-the-growth-and-development-of-early/) [Zeresenay Alemseged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeresenay-alemseged/) > [The fact that all our ape cousins - chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans - can acquire signs - is powerful evidence that our hominid ancestors'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-fouts/the-fact-that-all-our-ape-cousins-chimpanzees-gorillas-and-orangutans/) [Roger Fouts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-fouts/) > [Are we the first hominids? I really, really, really doubt it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridley-scott/are-we-the-first-hominids-i-really-really-really-doubt-it/) [Ridley Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridley-scott/) ## More by Andre Naffis-Sahely > [Translators who choose to work on canonized writers can usually lean on an extensive critical apparatus around either the author or the book in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/translators-who-choose-to-work-on-canonized-writers-can-usually-lean/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [The real question should be: what makes a good political poem? The possible answers to that question are both obvious and yet still a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/the-real-question-should-be-what-makes-a-good-political-poem-the/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [As the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe has presciently pointed out, neoliberal corporate globalism threatens to exploit that advantage like never before, and it seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/as-the-cameroonian-philosopher-achille-mbembe-has-presciently-pointed/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [I've heard of translators collaborating closely with their authors, sometimes even living with them for a while, but that's not me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/i-ve-heard-of-translators-collaborating-closely-with-their-authors/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [When it comes to the challenges of the actual process, I soldier on as best I can, on my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/when-it-comes-to-the-challenges-of-the-actual-process-i-soldier-on-as/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [I came to poetry at fourteen, in the middle of a booming oil-rush town in southern Arabia without a single public library: Abu Dhabi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/i-came-to-poetry-at-fourteen-in-the-middle-of-a-booming-oil-rush-town/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [Poetry either pulses with real life or it's just an aborted simulacra. There's no middle ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/poetry-either-pulses-with-real-life-or-it-s-just-an-aborted-simulacra/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [Whenever poetry and politics are mentioned in the same breath, we tend to miss the point entirely - as I often have - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/whenever-poetry-and-politics-are-mentioned-in-the-same-breath-we-tend/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [I don't like poems that invent memories, I have enough of my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/i-don-t-like-poems-that-invent-memories-i-have-enough-of-my-own/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [ That boom town \[Abu Dhabi\] proved to be the reef against which my family crashed, the story of many who seek the promised land,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/that-boom-town-abu-dhabi-proved-to-be-the-reef-against-which-my/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [Most of us have been subjected to terrible political poetry at least once or twice in our lifetimes, and so we tend to shy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/most-of-us-have-been-subjected-to-terrible-political-poetry-at-least/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [Regardless of whether the authors I've translated have been "dead and canonized," or "living and established," or even simply "emerging," I must put myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/regardless-of-whether-the-authors-i-ve-translated-have-been-dead-and/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [ Abdellatif \[Laâbi\] was wildly popular with his students and it wasn't difficult to see why: like them, he knew that average Moroccans were hungry,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/abdellatif-la-bi-was-wildly-popular-with-his-students-and-it-wasn-t/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [One cannot simply decide to write apolitical poetry, in the way one decides to drink lemonade instead of tea, it's far more subliminal than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/one-cannot-simply-decide-to-write-apolitical-poetry-in-the-way-one/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [I'm of the opinion that poetry is always political, and cannot help but be so, regardless of the poet's intent, given that refusing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-poetry-is-always-political-and-cannot-help/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) [Explore all 30 Andre Naffis-Sahely quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) ## More Bitter quotes > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Troy was a sweet, good man. We just were never destined to be married. We just didn't have the same values. But I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-pleshette/troy-was-a-sweet-good-man-we-just-were-never-destined-to-be-married/) [Suzanne Pleshette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-pleshette/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [One may have been a fool, but there's no foolishness like being bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-norris/one-may-have-been-a-fool-but-there-s-no-foolishness-like-being-bitter/) [Kathleen Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-norris/) > [“I doubt taking in a sullen, bitter, teenage girl with more issues than National Geographic is at the center of the vision board for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katja-millay/i-doubt-taking-in-a-sullen-bitter-teenage-girl-with-more-issues-than/) [Katja Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katja-millay/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Life is too bitter already, without territories and wars and noble feuds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-too-bitter-already-without-territories-and-wars-and-noble/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With every interview you feel like you lose a piece of yourself, and with every bad review you become just that little bit more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-march/with-every-interview-you-feel-like-you-lose-a-piece-of-yourself-and/) [Jane March](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-march/) > [“Without the bitter, the sweet ain’t as sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/without-the-bitter-the-sweet-ain-t-as-sweet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I refuse to be one of those artists who, 10 years from now, they're bitter about the rise and the fall of their career.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/i-refuse-to-be-one-of-those-artists-who-10-years-from-now-they-re/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [“In these days in which we live, when existence has become a thing of infinite complexity and fate, if it slips us a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/in-these-days-in-which-we-live-when-existence-has-become-a-thing-of/) [P.G. 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