I walk down the garden paths,
And all the daffodils
Are blowing, and the bright blue squills.
I walk down the patterned garden-paths
In my stiff, brocaded gown.
With my powdered hair and jewelled fan,
I too am a rare
Pattern. As I wander down
The garden paths.
My dress is richly figured,
And the train
Makes a pink and silver stain
On the gravel, and the thrift
Of the borders.
Just a plate of current fashion,
Tripping by in high-heeled, ribboned shoes.
Not a softness anywhere about me,
Only whalebone and brocade.
And I sink on a seat in the shade
Of a lime tree. For my passion
Wars against the stiff brocade.
The daffodils and squills
Flutter in the breeze
As they please.
And I weep;
For the lime-tree is in blossom
And one small flower has dropped upon my bosom.
And the plashing of waterdrops
In the marble fountain
Comes down the garden-paths.
The dripping never stops.
Underneath my stiffened gown
Is the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin,
A basin in the midst of hedges grown
So thick, she cannot see her lover hiding,
But she guesses he is near,
And the sliding of the water
Seems the stroking of a dear
Hand upon her.
What is Summer in a fine brocaded gown!
I should like to see it lying in a heap upon the ground.
All the pink and silver crumpled up on the ground.
I would be the pink and silver as I ran along the paths,
And he would stumble after,
Bewildered by my laughter.
I should see the sun flashing from his sword-hilt and the buckles on his shoes.
I would choose
To lead him in a maze along the patterned paths,
A bright and laughing maze for my heavy-booted lover,
Till he caught me in the shade,
And the buttons of his waistcoat bruised my body as he clasped me,
Aching, melting, unafraid.
With the shadows of the leaves and the sundrops,
And the plopping of the waterdrops,
All about us in the open afternoon --
I am very like to swoon
With the weight of this brocade,
For the sun sifts through the shade.
Underneath the fallen blossom
In my bosom,
Is a letter I have hid.
It was brought to me this morning by a rider from the Duke.
"Madam, we regret to inform you that Lord Hartwell
Died in action Thursday se'nnight."
As I read it in the white, morning sunlight,
The letters squirmed like snakes.
"Any answer, Madam," said my footman.
"No," I told him.
"See that the messenger takes some refreshment.
No, no answer."
And I walked into the garden,
Up and down the patterned paths,
In my stiff, correct brocade.
The blue and yellow flowers stood up proudly in the sun,
Each one.
I stood upright too,
Held rigid to the pattern
By the stiffness of my gown.
Up and down I walked,
Up and down.
In a month he would have been my husband.
In a month, here, underneath this lime,
We would have broke the pattern;
He for me, and I for him,
He as Colonel, I as Lady,
On this shady seat.
He had a whim
That sunlight carried blessing.
And I answered, "It shall be as you have said."
Now he is dead.
In Summer and in Winter I shall walk
Up and down
The patterned garden-paths
In my stiff, brocaded gown.
The squills and daffodils
Will give place to pillared roses, and to asters, and to snow.
I shall go
Up and down,
In my gown.
Gorgeously arrayed,
Boned and stayed.
And the softness of my body will be guarded from embrace
By each button, hook, and lace.
For the man who should loose me is dead,
Fighting with the Duke in Flanders,
In a pattern called a war.
Christ! What are patterns for?
✦
Analysis
Patterns: analysis
Introduction
"Patterns" is a long dramatic monologue by Amy Lowell. A woman in a stiff brocaded gown walks the paths of a formal garden. Under her calm surface she longs for her fiancé, Lord Hartwell. That morning a letter has told her he "Died in action".
She imagines the embrace she will now never have. She recalls how she received the news without breaking down. Then she faces a future of walking the same paths alone. Gardens, dress, manners and war all become "patterns" that hold people in place. The poem ends by asking what they are for.
Summary
The poem runs to 107 lines in one unbroken block, so this summary goes by movement rather than line by line. In lines 1 to 21 the speaker walks the garden paths among daffodils and squills. She wears a "stiff, brocaded gown", powdered hair and a jewelled fan. She calls herself "a rare / Pattern" and "a plate of current fashion", with "Only whalebone and brocade" about her. She sits in the shade of a lime tree, for her "passion / Wars against the stiff brocade".
In lines 22 to 39 the flowers "Flutter in the breeze / As they please". She weeps as a lime-tree flower drops onto her bosom. The fountain's dripping "never stops". Under her gown, she says, is "the softness of a woman bathing", who guesses her lover is near.
In lines 40 to 60 she imagines the gown "lying in a heap upon the ground". She pictures running along the paths while her lover stumbles after her, laughing. He catches her in the shade, and his waistcoat buttons bruise her as he clasps her. She feels "very like to swoon" under the weight of the brocade.
In lines 59 to 72 she reveals a letter hidden in her bosom. It came that morning by a rider from the Duke. It reports that Lord Hartwell "Died in action Thursday se'nnight". The letters "squirmed like snakes" as she read. She told the footman there was no answer.
In lines 71 to 92 she recalls walking the paths afterwards, held "rigid to the pattern" by her gown. She says, "In a month he would have been my husband." Under this lime they would have "broke the pattern". He had believed "That sunlight carried blessing", and she agreed. "Now he is dead."
In lines 91 to 109 she looks ahead. In summer and winter she will walk the same paths in her gown. The flowers will give way to roses, asters and snow. Her body will be "guarded from embrace / By each button, hook, and lace". The man who should have freed her is dead "In a pattern called a war". She ends: "Christ! What are patterns for?"
Themes and meaning
The central theme is constraint by pattern. The garden paths are "patterned", her dress is "richly figured", and she calls herself "a rare / Pattern". Her body is "Boned and stayed" and guarded "By each button, hook, and lace". Social order works the same way. She answers the fatal letter with calm instructions about refreshment for the messenger.
A second theme is desire against convention. Her "passion / Wars against the stiff brocade". Her fantasy of the gown "in a heap upon the ground" shows what the patterns hold back. The bathing woman and the "dear / Hand" of water make that longing physical. The poem sets the "softness" of her body against "whalebone and brocade".
A third theme is grief under composure. She reads that her lover is dead and says only "No, no answer". She walks "Up and down" with the flowers standing "up proudly", and she stands "upright too". The pattern of good manners lets her bear the shock, but it also traps her in it. The repeated "Up and down" suggests a life going nowhere.
The last theme is war as a pattern. The final lines join private loss to public order: "In a pattern called a war". War becomes one more design that people must follow, and it has killed the man who "should loose" her. Her marriage would have "broke the pattern". Yet "He as Colonel, I as Lady" shows that marriage has its own roles, so that escape too may be read as another pattern.
The closing question is left open. It can be read as despair, or as the first step toward refusing the patterns. The oath "Christ!" shows that her control has finally given way.
Tone
The tone begins composed and elegant, with an undercurrent of strain. The speaker describes her dress with precise pride. Yet words such as "stiff" and "whalebone" hint at discomfort.
The tone warms into longing and sensuous fantasy in the middle of the poem. "Aching, melting, unafraid" is the freest line in it. Laughter and running replace the slow walk.
The revelation of the letter brings a cold, shocked note. "The letters squirmed like snakes" shows horror under her control. Her replies to the footman are clipped and correct.
The close grows bitter and weary. The future is a flat round of "Up and down". The final exclamation, "Christ!", breaks the formal surface at last. The question that follows is angry and desperate.
Form and structure
The poem is a dramatic monologue of 107 lines, printed as 1 stanza. It is free verse with no fixed metre. Line lengths range from 1 to 16 syllables, and long lines swing against short ones such as "Up and down."
Rhyme comes often but at no fixed interval. Some rhymes are close couplets: "blossom" and "bosom", "after" and "laughter", "arrayed" and "stayed". Others return across a gap, such as "brocade" and "shade". The final couplet pairs "war" with "for".
Tense shifts shape the poem. It moves from the present of the walk to the past of the letter, then to the future. The shortest lines, 1 and 2 syllables long, come where the text seems to break a long line in two.
Poetic devices
Metaphor line 7
I too am a rare The speaker calls herself a pattern like the garden. She is part of the design, not a free person in it.
Personification line 21
Wars against the stiff brocade Her passion fights her clothes. The inner struggle is made physical, and the word anticipates the real war.
Onomatopoeia line 28
the plashing of waterdrops The sound of the word imitates the fountain. The dripping that "never stops" is a constant reminder of the body and time.
Imagery line 33
the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin The image shows the body hidden under the gown. It sets softness against marble and stiffness.
Simile line 66
The letters squirmed like snakes The written words seem alive and hostile. The simile shows shock without her saying she felt it.
Repetition line 80
Up and down. The phrase recurs through the poem's second half. It makes her walking a closed loop with no destination.
Irony line 88
That sunlight carried blessing Her lover's belief turns cruel. She reads the news of his death in the white morning sunlight.
Rhyme line 90
Now he is dead. The short line rhymes with "said" in line 89. The chime shuts off the memory with a blunt fact.
Alliteration line 101
Boned and stayed The line names the corset's stiffening. Her body is shaped like a garment, and the short line feels tight.
Metaphor line 106
In a pattern called a war War becomes one more pattern. The line joins her private constraint to the public order that killed him.
Rhetorical question line 107
What are patterns for? The poem ends on a question it does not answer. Its outburst breaks the composure kept throughout.
Words worth knowing
squills
Small spring bulbs with bright blue flowers.
thrift
A low plant with pink flowers, used to edge borders. It does not mean saving money here.
plate
In a plate of current fashion, a fashion plate: an illustration showing the latest styles.
lime
The lime tree here is the linden, a shade tree, not the citrus fruit.
se'nnight
A week, short for seven nights. Thursday se'nnight means a week ago Thursday.
stayed
Fitted with stays, the stiffened panels of a corset.
Context
Amy Lowell lived from 1874 to 1925. The archive lists "Patterns" in her collection Men, Women and Ghosts. It has been on americanpoems.com since February 2004. It was Poem of the Day on May 29, 2015. Readers left 15 comments on it between 2005 and 2010.
What readers have said
Emma reads the poem as showing how war trapped women in the same patterns forever when their men did not come home. Emma, 2005
Bill McCune, who has worked on military history in war zones, hears the sinking feeling when news of a soldier's death ends a hoped-for future. Bill McCune, 2007
Tim disagrees with Bill and reads it as about society's constriction of women, noting that her brocade becomes correct after the lover's death. Tim, 2007
This reader compares it to an Emily Dickinson poem about the formal feeling after great sadness. The same reader sees no gender constraint in it and rejects tying it to the poet's own experience. ea, 2008
Melissa sees patterns as both a prop and a confinement, and finds hope in the closing question that the woman may yet step out of them. Melissa, 2005
Belle Miller notes that the poem ignores fixed line length and rhyme, and reads that freedom as matching the woman's soul moving beyond convention. Belle Miller, 2010
Life is like some kind of walking.But it really makes difference where you walk.Walking in a garden which is similar to man-made societies makes a woman feel stuck.It does not make you feel better,moreover it demands from you to make it better.
EmmaAustralia
This is my favourite poem. I cried the first time I read it. It really shows how the war affected women and how they became stuck in the same 'patterns' for ever if their husbands, fianceés etc didn't come home. She says that the only person who could save her from this is dead now, and she will be stuck like this forever.
BruceUnited States
I first read this 40 years ago in high school. I'm a guy. I liked it so much I kept re-reading it. Then I showed it to my English teacher, a woman. She read it, thought about it, then said, "It makes you want to rip your clothes right off and run about naked."
I couldn't believe a teacher said this to a student.
It's kind of true, though.
I just re-read the poem on this Website. For the first time I noticed the interesting rhymes.
MelissaUnited States
A lovely poem which I, too, read for the 1st time in high school and have only just re-visited. The patterns of everything: gardens, clothing, behavior(society) which keep us going and also confine us...what are patterns for? They can be a prop, they can also keep one walking around and around in the same garden for the rest of one's life. Because the voice of this poem actually asks this question at the end, I see some hope that this very patterned woman in a very patterned society may yet step out of her brocade and whalebone...a very positive image that I did not pick up when I was younger.
I am in High School now and my friend and I are analizing this poem in class and I just wanted to get a little more information. The pattern is that she was once alone, but finds someone, and now is alone again. Thanks for the other ideas.
TaraUnited States
I just read this poem a few ago in order to begin a paper on it for my college poetry class. I found the most interesting part of this poem on the first read through was the intense imagery. Everyone can picture this poor woman and her broken heart. However, there truly is a much deeper meaning to this piece. The last two lines, "In a pattern called a war./ Christ! What are patterns for?" reveals that the speaker, much like the author views society's "patterns" in a negative way. What I don't understand is why Lowell chooses to write this long poem about a woman and her fiance to prove this point. It is an amazing work though.
The idea of confinement caused by societal patterns is evident. More so when you realize the author of this poem was lesbian.
Bill McCuneUnited States
I came across Patterns in the Random House anthology. Of course the piece has many points for analysis, but here's what grabbed me: I've been working on a military history TV project for a fwe years and have been to Iraq, Bosnia and such sad places. I think patters captures that empty, sinking feeling that comes with word of a soldier/loved one's death - realizing that the dreams and anticipation of a wonderful future are instantly gone.
I disagree with Bill completely. The poem isn't about the poet losing someone and having everything come crashing down. Lowell was a lesbian and this poem has to do with societal constriction of the female in 20th century America. She is attempting to liberate women from these "patterns" using many poetic devices including imagery. If you reread the poem, you will notice that her stiff, brocade gown is now 'correct' after her lover has passed away. She now has the ability to be true to herself. I'm not saying that your interpretation isn't fine and all, but there is something else going on here.
KaitlinAustralia
I found it really difficult to analyse poetry until i read this particular work. This poem made me think about the woman's frame of mind and how her emotions develop as she tells us her story. I came up with a piece of work that i am particularly proud of and will hand in to my Lit teacher with a triumphant grin. This is the first piece of poetry that has had a big impression on me (on a personal level), and i am now beggining the search for more of Amy Lowell's work.
ea
Yes, I agree that this is a great poem. It reminds me of Emily Dickinson's poem about "After great sadness, a formal feeling comes" or something along those lines. I don't see any correlation to this and Lowell's lesbianism as asserted in a comment below - as a fiction writer, I am well aware how someone can speak in many voices, and this could be her imagining herself as the speaker, or even imagining what her own…
Read the whole comment
Yes, I agree that this is a great poem. It reminds me of Emily Dickinson's poem about "After great sadness, a formal feeling comes" or something along those lines. I don't see any correlation to this and Lowell's lesbianism as asserted in a comment below - as a fiction writer, I am well aware how someone can speak in many voices, and this could be her imagining herself as the speaker, or even imagining what her own lover might feel should she die - I don't see any gender constraints to it at all. It is a poem of great passion and illustrates so well how that formal feeling comes when a relationship ends. Also, it seems to me to be an anti-war poem. How the pattern of human society, which includes war, occurs again and again and how devestating it is to the individuals involved.
I love this for its inventive rhyme pattern. It seems to be challenging formal rhyme styles in a new free verse rhyming way - it's brilliant!
camilleUnited States
I think that the correctness in her corset relates to the fact that after her lover died she had to once again be the perfect portrayal of womanhood, when her lover was alive, it did not matter whether a ribbon was loose or what not. But I do agree with the idea that the main idea focuses on conformity based on gender etc. I think that it is more about the "patterns" of one's position, and when her lover died she said "a pattern called war" which emphasizes the tragedy of conforming or doing what you are 'supposed' to do....all in all it is a very interesting poem
I could hardly understand it. It's quite interesting. I've read several poems before but this one touches me the more
villegasPhilippines
patterns
the patterns is such like dignified lady that there's no embarrassments on her side tough she losses someone important in her life.Lowell has a great lesbianism in her part coz she even cried but to stand in her brocaded gown...
Belle MillerUnited States
Patterns
I found this poem almost accidentally and am moved most by things it precisely does not say. Many poems have a fixed line-length and some rhyme pattern but this poem acts like it never heard of such constraints. Here is poetry that reflects a natural immediate feelings that doesn't experience the rigid whalebone of versification. Can't you just see that the woman's soul stands in a similar relationship to the conventional expectation. She has already gone beyond patterns even while sounding as if they limited her.
Life is like some kind of walking.But it really makes difference where you walk.Walking in a garden which is similar to man-made societies makes a woman feel stuck.It does not make you feel better,moreover it demands from you to make it better.
This is my favourite poem. I cried the first time I read it. It really shows how the war affected women and how they became stuck in the same 'patterns' for ever if their husbands, fianceés etc didn't come home. She says that the only person who could save her from this is dead now, and she will be stuck like this forever.
I first read this 40 years ago in high school. I'm a guy. I liked it so much I kept re-reading it. Then I showed it to my English teacher, a woman. She read it, thought about it, then said, "It makes you want to rip your clothes right off and run about naked."
I couldn't believe a teacher said this to a student.
It's kind of true, though.
I just re-read the poem on this Website. For the first time I noticed the interesting rhymes.
A lovely poem which I, too, read for the 1st time in high school and have only just re-visited. The patterns of everything: gardens, clothing, behavior(society) which keep us going and also confine us...what are patterns for? They can be a prop, they can also keep one walking around and around in the same garden for the rest of one's life. Because the voice of this poem actually asks this question at the end, I see some hope that this very patterned woman in a very patterned society may yet step out of her brocade and whalebone...a very positive image that I did not pick up when I was younger.
I am in High School now and my friend and I are analizing this poem in class and I just wanted to get a little more information. The pattern is that she was once alone, but finds someone, and now is alone again. Thanks for the other ideas.
I just read this poem a few ago in order to begin a paper on it for my college poetry class. I found the most interesting part of this poem on the first read through was the intense imagery. Everyone can picture this poor woman and her broken heart. However, there truly is a much deeper meaning to this piece. The last two lines, "In a pattern called a war./ Christ! What are patterns for?" reveals that the speaker, much like the author views society's "patterns" in a negative way. What I don't understand is why Lowell chooses to write this long poem about a woman and her fiance to prove this point. It is an amazing work though.
The idea of confinement caused by societal patterns is evident. More so when you realize the author of this poem was lesbian.
I came across Patterns in the Random House anthology.
Of course the piece has many points for analysis, but here's what grabbed me: I've been working on a military history TV project for a fwe years and have been to Iraq, Bosnia and such sad places. I think patters captures that empty, sinking feeling that comes with word of a soldier/loved one's death - realizing that the dreams and anticipation of a wonderful future are instantly gone.
I disagree with Bill completely. The poem isn't about the poet losing someone and having everything come crashing down. Lowell was a lesbian and this poem has to do with societal constriction of the female in 20th century America. She is attempting to liberate women from these "patterns" using many poetic devices including imagery. If you reread the poem, you will notice that her stiff, brocade gown is now 'correct' after her lover has passed away. She now has the ability to be true to herself. I'm not saying that your interpretation isn't fine and all, but there is something else going on here.
I found it really difficult to analyse poetry until i read this particular work. This poem made me think about the woman's frame of mind and how her emotions develop as she tells us her story. I came up with a piece of work that i am particularly proud of and will hand in to my Lit teacher with a triumphant grin. This is the first piece of poetry that has had a big impression on me (on a personal level), and i am now beggining the search for more of Amy Lowell's work.
Yes, I agree that this is a great poem. It reminds me of Emily Dickinson's poem about "After great sadness, a formal feeling comes" or something along those lines. I don't see any correlation to this and Lowell's lesbianism as asserted in a comment below - as a fiction writer, I am well aware how someone can speak in many voices, and this could be her imagining herself as the speaker, or even imagining what her own…
Read the whole commentYes, I agree that this is a great poem. It reminds me of Emily Dickinson's poem about "After great sadness, a formal feeling comes" or something along those lines. I don't see any correlation to this and Lowell's lesbianism as asserted in a comment below - as a fiction writer, I am well aware how someone can speak in many voices, and this could be her imagining herself as the speaker, or even imagining what her own lover might feel should she die - I don't see any gender constraints to it at all. It is a poem of great passion and illustrates so well how that formal feeling comes when a relationship ends. Also, it seems to me to be an anti-war poem. How the pattern of human society, which includes war, occurs again and again and how devestating it is to the individuals involved.
I love this for its inventive rhyme pattern. It seems to be challenging formal rhyme styles in a new free verse rhyming way - it's brilliant!
I think that the correctness in her corset relates to the fact that after her lover died she had to once again be the perfect portrayal of womanhood, when her lover was alive, it did not matter whether a ribbon was loose or what not. But I do agree with the idea that the main idea focuses on conformity based on gender etc. I think that it is more about the "patterns" of one's position, and when her lover died she said "a pattern called war" which emphasizes the tragedy of conforming or doing what you are 'supposed' to do....all in all it is a very interesting poem
A comment
I could hardly understand it. It's quite interesting. I've read several poems before but this one touches me the more
patterns
the patterns is such like dignified lady that there's no embarrassments on her side tough she losses someone important in her life.Lowell has a great lesbianism in her part coz she even cried but to stand in her brocaded gown...
Patterns
I found this poem almost accidentally and am moved most by things it precisely does not say. Many poems have a fixed line-length and some rhyme pattern but this poem acts like it never heard of such constraints. Here is poetry that reflects a natural immediate feelings that doesn't experience the rigid whalebone of versification. Can't you just see that the woman's soul stands in a similar relationship to the conventional expectation. She has already gone beyond patterns even while sounding as if they limited her.