--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Loser\" \"Father directed choir. When it…" description: "\"“Loser\" \"Father directed choir. When it paused on a Sunday, he liked to loiter out morning with the girls; then back to our cottage, dinner cold on the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/robert-lowell-6901_father_loser-father-directed-choir-when-it-paus_2816139.jpg" --- # Loser" "Father directed choir. When it paused on a Sunday… ![“Loser" "Father directed choir. When it paused on a Sunday, he liked to loiter out morning with the girls; then back to our cottage, dinner cold on the table, Mother locked in bed devouring tabloid. You should see him, white fringe about his ears, bald head more biased than a billiard ball-- he…” quote by Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/robert-lowell-6901_father_loser-father-directed-choir-when-it-paus_2816139.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/robert-lowell-6901_father_loser-father-directed-choir-when-it-paus_2816139.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/robert-lowell-6901_father_loser-father-directed-choir-when-it-paus_2816139.jpg) > ““Loser" "Father directed choir. When it paused on a Sunday, he liked to loiter out morning with the girls; then back to our cottage, dinner cold on the table, Mother locked in bed devouring tabloid. You should see him, white fringe about his ears, bald head more biased than a billiard ball-- he never left a party. Mother left by herself-- I threw myself from her car and broke my leg… Years later, he said, 'How jolly of you to have jumped.' He forgot me, mother replaced his name, I miss him. When I am unhappy, I try to squeeze the hour an hour or half-hour smaller than it is; orphaned, I wake at midnight and pray for day-- the lovely ladies get me through the day”” [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 reflects on fragmented memories, loss, and attempts to compress time to cope with grief. **In simple terms:** He tries to shrink time to manage sorrow. Key Takeaway Use rituals to process grief. Themes loss memory time perception Mood melancholic introspective Type poetry reflective When to use this quote - therapy sessions - memorial services - journaling Key Concepts psychology poetic narrative Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor painful memories without minimizing them? - What practices help you live with loss? A Different Perspective Compressing time may not heal underlying pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Forgot Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgot-mother-2645766/) [Loser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loser/) [Loser Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loser-father-3555299/) [Mother Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-left-528760/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) ## Related quotes > [“What could you give me," I ask, my voice shaking, "To make me forget . . . that you forgot about me?" My mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/what-could-you-give-me-i-ask-my-voice-shaking-to-make-me-forget-that/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“On quite a few occasions Liesel forgot about her mother and any other problem of which she currently held ownership.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/on-quite-a-few-occasions-liesel-forgot-about-her-mother-and-any-other/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [“You have made me give up the hair Father gave me, the eyes Mother left me, the Color I was born to, so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/you-have-made-me-give-up-the-hair-father-gave-me-the-eyes-mother-left/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [The first thing you should know about me is when I was three years old my mother left me and my father. And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-carlyle/the-first-thing-you-should-know-about-me-is-when-i-was-three-years/) [Robert Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-carlyle/) > [When my mother left her second husband, she wrote her autobiography and presented it to him for his approval.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/when-my-mother-left-her-second-husband-she-wrote-her-autobiography/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [“Maya knows that her mother left her in Island Books. But maybe that’s what happens to all children at a certain age. Some children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/maya-knows-that-her-mother-left-her-in-island-books-but-maybe-that-s/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [My mother was one of seven girls whose parents went to bed hungry so their children wouldn't. My father lost his mother when he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/my-mother-was-one-of-seven-girls-whose-parents-went-to-bed-hungry-so/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [At the moment, my mother is the only one left in Glasgow, although it's certainly my home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-forsyth/at-the-moment-my-mother-is-the-only-one-left-in-glasgow-although-it-s/) [Bill Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-forsyth/) > [My father disowned me and my mother left me. It was difficult but I took Lord Ganesha's and Jesus's name and could pass through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakhi-sawant/my-father-disowned-me-and-my-mother-left-me-it-was-difficult-but-i/) [Rakhi Sawant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakhi-sawant/) > [I lived in New York until I was eleven years old, when my mother left my two older sisters and my father. My mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-mitchell/i-lived-in-new-york-until-i-was-eleven-years-old-when-my-mother-left/) [Victor Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-mitchell/) > [“I'm very glad my mother left my father, of course, but as I got older it did get harder to valorize that flight. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendoline-riley/i-m-very-glad-my-mother-left-my-father-of-course-but-as-i-got-older/) [Gwendoline Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendoline-riley/) > [My mother left me when I was 2 years old which is devestating to a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellie-pickler/my-mother-left-me-when-i-was-2-years-old-which-is-devestating-to-a/) [Kellie Pickler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellie-pickler/) > [We sure didn't feel like refugees, but in hindsight, I guess we were - my father and mother left everything behind to come here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dara-khosrowshahi/we-sure-didn-t-feel-like-refugees-but-in-hindsight-i-guess-we-were-my/) [Dara Khosrowshahi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dara-khosrowshahi/) > [I did what any good full-time working mother would do and left my screaming toddler with my husband for three weeks and convinced Comedy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desi-lydic/i-did-what-any-good-full-time-working-mother-would-do-and-left-my/) [Desi Lydic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desi-lydic/) > [Life hasn't always been fair, sometimes it has been very mean. I fell down along the way, I got wounds that couldn't be seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercy-pheona/life-hasn-t-always-been-fair-sometimes-it-has-been-very-mean-i-fell/) [Mercy Pheona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercy-pheona/) ## 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 Father quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [My parents were not musical, and they were not effervescent people; everything was very quiet. The music that I played was loud; it used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/my-parents-were-not-musical-and-they-were-not-effervescent-people/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [“My father called twice and left a voicemail—who does that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-erickson/my-father-called-twice-and-left-a-voicemail-who-does-that/) [Megan Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-erickson/) > [My father longed for a better life for us, and when I was nine he got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-melua/my-father-longed-for-a-better-life-for-us-and-when-i-was-nine-he-got/) [Katie Melua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-melua/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [The old men of the village of Mahotière say that the Mistress of the Water is a mulatto woman. At midnight she comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/the-old-men-of-the-village-of-mahoti-re-say-that-the-mistress-of-the/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) > [“I don’t know. We all have to bear things, Ari. All of us. Your father has to bear the war and what it did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-know-we-all-have-to-bear-things-ari-all-of-us-your-father-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This was, I sometimes thought, the last gift my father gave me. And the best: His death stood out as the supreme-o excuse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-stahl/this-was-i-sometimes-thought-the-last-gift-my-father-gave-me-and-the/) [Jerry Stahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-stahl/) > [My father was very encouraging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-nutini/my-father-was-very-encouraging/) [Paolo Nutini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-nutini/) > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 19,784 Father quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Loser\" \"Father directed choir. When it paused on a Sunday, he liked to loiter out morning with the girls; then back to our cottage, dinner cold on the table, Mother locked in bed devouring tabloid. You should see him, white fringe about his ears, bald head more biased than a billiard ball-- he never left a party. Mother left by herself-- I threw myself from her car and broke my leg… Years later, he said, 'How jolly of you to have jumped.' He forgot me, mother replaced his name, I miss him. 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