Patterns Flashcards
by Amy Lowell — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: Patterns
Who wrote the poem "Patterns"?
Amy Lowell, published in Men, Women and Ghosts (1916).
What type of poem is "Patterns"?
A dramatic monologue in free verse.
Where does the speaker walk in the poem?
Through the patterned garden paths of a formal estate.
What is the speaker wearing?
A stiff, brocaded gown with whalebone, powdered hair, and a jeweled fan.
What news does the speaker receive?
A letter informing her that her lover, Lord Hartwell, has died in battle.
What is the famous last line of "Patterns"?
"Christ! What are patterns for?"
What do the patterned garden paths symbolize?
The prescribed routes of social behavior and rigid expectations.
What does the speaker's brocade gown symbolize?
The physical and social constraints placed on women by patriarchal society.
How long until the speaker's wedding was supposed to take place?
One month — "In a month he would have been my husband."
Where did Lord Hartwell die?
Fighting with the Duke in Flanders.
What does the speaker fantasize about doing in the garden?
Shedding her gown and running freely through the paths while her lover chases her.
What is the contrast between the gown and the speaker's body?
The gown is stiff and rigid; underneath is "the softness of a woman," representing her suppressed desire and humanity.
What literary movement does "Patterns" represent?
Imagism, which emphasized precise visual imagery and free verse.
How does the speaker react when she receives news of Lord Hartwell's death?
She maintains composure, tells the footman "No, no answer," and walks up and down the garden paths in her stiff gown.
What role does water imagery play in the poem?
The splashing waterdrops and marble fountain represent sensuality and desire, contrasting with the rigid patterns of the gown and garden.
Why is "Patterns" considered an anti-war poem?
It shows war's devastation through its effect on those left behind, and identifies war itself as just another destructive "pattern."
What natural elements contrast with the speaker's rigid clothing?
Daffodils, squills, blossoms, waterdrops, and sunlight — all representing freedom and natural beauty.
What is polyphonic prose?
A form Amy Lowell pioneered that blends the rhythms of prose and verse into a musical hybrid.
What does "se'nnight" mean in the letter about Lord Hartwell?
A week (seven nights) — the letter says he "Died in action Thursday se'nnight."
What historical period is suggested by the poem's setting?
The 18th century, based on references to powdered hair, brocade gowns, whalebone, and fighting in Flanders.
How does the form of "Patterns" reinforce its theme?
The free verse form rebels against the rigid "patterns" of traditional poetic meter and rhyme, mirroring the speaker's rebellion against social constraint.
What is the feminist reading of "Patterns"?
The poem protests the confinement of women within patriarchal structures — the gown is a physical prison preventing authentic expression and physical freedom.
What would the speaker and Lord Hartwell have done together?
They would have "broke the pattern" by marrying — he as Colonel, she as Lady — sitting together under the lime tree.
What does the speaker say will happen to her body now?
"The softness of my body will be guarded from embrace / By each button, hook, and lace" — she will remain forever confined.
How does the speaker describe the letters of the death notice?
"The letters squirmed like snakes" — a vivid simile capturing her horror and shock.