--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dearest, I cannot loiter here in lather…" description: "\"“Dearest, I cannot loiter here in lather like a polar bear.”\" — Robert Lowell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/robert-lowell-6901_polar-bear_dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-l_1148473.jpg" --- # Dearest, I cannot loiter here in lather like a polar bear. ![“Dearest, I cannot loiter here in lather like a polar bear.” quote by Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/robert-lowell-6901_polar-bear_dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-l_1148473.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/robert-lowell-6901_polar-bear_dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-l_1148473.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/robert-lowell-6901_polar-bear_dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-l_1148473.jpg) > ““Dearest, I cannot loiter here in lather like a polar bear.”” [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels trapped, likening idle waiting to a polar bear stuck in lather. **In simple terms:** Feeling stuck like a bear in soap. Key Takeaway Seek movement beyond stagnation. Themes existential stagnation self‑reflection Mood melancholic introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - career plateau - creative block - personal crisis Key Concepts metaphor identity crisis Questions to Reflect On - What lather holds you? - How can you break free? A Different Perspective Stagnation can be self‑imposed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dearest Loiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dearest-loiter-3234989/) [Lather Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lather-like-3234990/) [Like Polar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-polar-2470693/) [Loiter Lather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loiter-lather-3234988/) [Polar Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/polar-bear/) ## Related quotes > [Judging the political climate in my state by walking around lefty Ann Arbor is like a polar bear judging global warming by staring at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-pollack/judging-the-political-climate-in-my-state-by-walking-around-lefty-ann/) [Eileen Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-pollack/) > [For me it's the funnest thing in the world, just zipping up in a different skin and completely act like someone who's the polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-paul/for-me-it-s-the-funnest-thing-in-the-world-just-zipping-up-in-a/) [Aaron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-paul/) > [The only place Al Gore conserves energy these days is on the treadmill. I don't want to suggest that Al's getting big, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/the-only-place-al-gore-conserves-energy-these-days-is-on-the/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [“I’m looking to see if it was produced by one of the Canadian mines. Some of the larger mines mark their diamonds with minuscule…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sample/i-m-looking-to-see-if-it-was-produced-by-one-of-the-canadian-mines/) [Cindy Sample](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sample/) > [If some of our teenage thrill seekers really want to go out and get a thrill, let them go up into the Northwest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bear/if-some-of-our-teenage-thrill-seekers-really-want-to-go-out-and-get-a/) [Fred Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bear/) > [At certain moments in my life, I have stumbled upon a beauty so extreme, I have stepped back in alarm. There are some people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torrey-peters/at-certain-moments-in-my-life-i-have-stumbled-upon-a-beauty-so/) [Torrey Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torrey-peters/) > [“Struck dumb by love among the walruses And whales, the off-white polar bear with stuffing Missing, the mastodons like muddy buses, I sniff the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-e-sissman/struck-dumb-by-love-among-the-walruses-and-whales-the-off-white-polar/) [L.E. Sissman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-e-sissman/) > [There's another totally fraudulent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Al Gore hadn't done anything but make a movie that itself was filled with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/there-s-another-totally-fraudulent-recipient-of-the-nobel-peace-prize/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“You have some lovely books," she said. "I like the one with the pictures of polar bears." "The books with words too tricky?" She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-elsborg/you-have-some-lovely-books-she-said-i-like-the-one-with-the-pictures/) [Barbara Elsborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-elsborg/) > [My favorite animal is a polar bear. They're going extinct, and I really don't want that to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quvenzhane-wallis/my-favorite-animal-is-a-polar-bear-they-re-going-extinct-and-i-really/) [Quvenzhane Wallis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quvenzhane-wallis/) > [“Fighting with tangles, fighting with curls, the poor barber yanked, the poor barber pulled, until with one last effort (and to the wonder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mili-fay/fighting-with-tangles-fighting-with-curls-the-poor-barber-yanked-the/) [Mili Fay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mili-fay/) > [I did a show in this tiny town called Longyearbyen. We went snowmobiling around Svalbard and saw Arctic foxes, snow bunting, polar bear footprints…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bailey/i-did-a-show-in-this-tiny-town-called-longyearbyen-we-went/) [Bill Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bailey/) > [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/) [Amy Ridenour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-ridenour/) > [Getting head-to-head with a polar bear was amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-strachan/getting-head-to-head-with-a-polar-bear-was-amazing/) [Michaela Strachan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-strachan/) > [Never film yourself having sex. You think you'll look powerful and vital, but you don't. You look like a sick, shivering polar bear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-affleck/never-film-yourself-having-sex-you-think-you-ll-look-powerful-and/) [Ben Affleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-affleck/) ## More by Robert Lowell > [“Naval officers were not mother's sort; very few people were her sort in those days, and that was her trouble - a very authentic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/naval-officers-were-not-mother-s-sort-very-few-people-were-her-sort/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [Pity the planet, all joy gone from this sweet volcanic cone; peace to our children when they fall in small war on the heel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/pity-the-planet-all-joy-gone-from-this-sweet-volcanic-cone-peace-to/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“Then morning comes, saying, "This was a night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/then-morning-comes-saying-this-was-a-night/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“The English departments were clogged with worthy but outworn and backwardlooking scholars whose tastes in the moderns were most often superficial, random, and vulgar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/the-english-departments-were-clogged-with-worthy-but-outworn-and/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [It's the light of the oncoming train.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/it-s-the-light-of-the-oncoming-train/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“Sleeper in the Valley" The river sings and cuts a hole in the meadow, madly hooking white tatters on the rushes. light escalades the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/sleeper-in-the-valley-the-river-sings-and-cuts-a-hole-in-the-meadow/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“Reading Myself" Like thousands I took just pride and more than just, struck matches that brought my blood to a boil; I memorized the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/reading-myself-like-thousands-i-took-just-pride-and-more-than-just/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [Pity the planet, all joy gone from this sweet volcanic cone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/pity-the-planet-all-joy-gone-from-this-sweet-volcanic-cone/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“We are poor passing facts. warned by that to give each figure in the photograph his living name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/we-are-poor-passing-facts-warned-by-that-to-give-each-figure-in-the/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“Those blessèd structures, plot and rhyme— why are they no help to me now I want to make something imagined, not recalled?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/those-bless-d-structures-plot-and-rhyme-why-are-they-no-help-to-me/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [It's a completely powerful and serious book, as good as anything in prose or poetry written by a 'beat' writer, and one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/it-s-a-completely-powerful-and-serious-book-as-good-as-anything-in/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [Life begins to happen. My hoppped up husband drops his home disputes, and hits the streets to cruise for prostitutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/life-begins-to-happen-my-hoppped-up-husband-drops-his-home-disputes/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“The slick bare tar, the same suburban station.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/the-slick-bare-tar-the-same-suburban-station/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“Things last, but sometimes for days here only children seem fit to handle children, and there is no utility or inspiration in the wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/things-last-but-sometimes-for-days-here-only-children-seem-fit-to/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“This is the departure strip, the dream-road. Whoever built it left numbers, words and arrows. He had to leave in a hurry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/this-is-the-departure-strip-the-dream-road-whoever-built-it-left/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) [Explore all 96 Robert Lowell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) ## More Polar Bear quotes > [Never film yourself having sex. You think you'll look powerful and vital, but you don't. You look like a sick, shivering polar bear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-affleck/never-film-yourself-having-sex-you-think-you-ll-look-powerful-and/) [Ben Affleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-affleck/) > [Getting head-to-head with a polar bear was amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-strachan/getting-head-to-head-with-a-polar-bear-was-amazing/) [Michaela Strachan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-strachan/) > [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/) [Amy Ridenour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-ridenour/) > [I did a show in this tiny town called Longyearbyen. We went snowmobiling around Svalbard and saw Arctic foxes, snow bunting, polar bear footprints…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bailey/i-did-a-show-in-this-tiny-town-called-longyearbyen-we-went/) [Bill Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bailey/) > [“Fighting with tangles, fighting with curls, the poor barber yanked, the poor barber pulled, until with one last effort (and to the wonder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mili-fay/fighting-with-tangles-fighting-with-curls-the-poor-barber-yanked-the/) [Mili Fay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mili-fay/) > [My favorite animal is a polar bear. They're going extinct, and I really don't want that to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quvenzhane-wallis/my-favorite-animal-is-a-polar-bear-they-re-going-extinct-and-i-really/) [Quvenzhane Wallis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quvenzhane-wallis/) > [“You have some lovely books," she said. "I like the one with the pictures of polar bears." "The books with words too tricky?" She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-elsborg/you-have-some-lovely-books-she-said-i-like-the-one-with-the-pictures/) [Barbara Elsborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-elsborg/) > [There's another totally fraudulent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Al Gore hadn't done anything but make a movie that itself was filled with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/there-s-another-totally-fraudulent-recipient-of-the-nobel-peace-prize/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“Struck dumb by love among the walruses And whales, the off-white polar bear with stuffing Missing, the mastodons like muddy buses, I sniff the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-e-sissman/struck-dumb-by-love-among-the-walruses-and-whales-the-off-white-polar/) [L.E. Sissman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-e-sissman/) > [At certain moments in my life, I have stumbled upon a beauty so extreme, I have stepped back in alarm. There are some people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torrey-peters/at-certain-moments-in-my-life-i-have-stumbled-upon-a-beauty-so/) [Torrey Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torrey-peters/) > [If some of our teenage thrill seekers really want to go out and get a thrill, let them go up into the Northwest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bear/if-some-of-our-teenage-thrill-seekers-really-want-to-go-out-and-get-a/) [Fred Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bear/) > [“I’m looking to see if it was produced by one of the Canadian mines. Some of the larger mines mark their diamonds with minuscule…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sample/i-m-looking-to-see-if-it-was-produced-by-one-of-the-canadian-mines/) [Cindy Sample](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sample/) > [The only place Al Gore conserves energy these days is on the treadmill. I don't want to suggest that Al's getting big, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/the-only-place-al-gore-conserves-energy-these-days-is-on-the/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [“Go with polar bears, I say to myself. Polar bears at the North Pole. Baby polar bears scooting along after their mothers in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-hand/go-with-polar-bears-i-say-to-myself-polar-bears-at-the-north-pole/) [Cynthia Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-hand/) > [I don't think there's any way we can save the polar bears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-steger/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-way-we-can-save-the-polar-bears/) [Will Steger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-steger/) [Browse all 145 Polar Bear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/polar-bear/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Dearest, I cannot loiter here in lather like a polar bear.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Lowell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-like-a-polar-bear/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Polar Bear" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-like-a-polar-bear/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/robert-lowell-6901_polar-bear_dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-l_1148473.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/robert-lowell-6901_polar-bear_dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-l_1148473.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/robert-lowell-6901_polar-bear_dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-l_1148473.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Dearest, I cannot loiter here in lather like a polar bear.” — Robert Lowell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Lowell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Dearest, I cannot loiter here in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-like-a-polar-bear/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/dearest-i-cannot-loiter-here-in-lather-like-a-polar-bear/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```