Patterns
by Amy Lowell
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 whale-bone 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 splashing 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 sen’night.”
As I read it in the white, morning sunlight,
The letters squirmed like snakes.
“Any answer, Madam,” said my footman.
“No,” l 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?
Summary of Patterns
- Popularity of “Patterns”: Written by Amy Lowell, an American writer and imagist poet, “Patterns” is an imagist poetic piece. It beautifully and vividly presents a lady’s views toward war and social convictions. It also points to the sorrow of losing someone very special. The poem gained immense popularity because of its simple structure and universal thematic strand.
- “Patterns” As a Representative of Loss: This is a sad poem. It begins when the speaker walks down the beautiful garden having eye-catching patterns of flowers and stops under the shade of a tree. She is in a beautiful dress. In the meantime, a beautiful flower drops upon her bosom. The falling of that flower makes her imagine a wonderful life with her husband. She thinks that her man will come, and she will take him to the maze to have lasting love experiences. Unfortunately, it never happens. As the poem proceeds, the speaker informs how changing life alters patterns and lets people welcome different experiences.
In her case, she has planned to enjoy the patterns of family life when suddenly, another pattern intervenes. This new pattern makes her experience the worst in her life. She loses her man in war, leaving only sweet memories behind. In the later part of the poem, the speaker questions the role of destiny in one’s life. Thus, the flower whose falling takes her into imaginative land falls and brings her back to reality, where the grave loss of losing someone really special keeps on haunting her memory. - Major Themes in “Patterns”: Loss, the horrific effects of warfare, and death are the poem’s major themes. The poem centers on the changing patterns of the speaker’s life. The beginning presents us with some joyous life patterns, where she walks in a garden wearing a beautiful gown. While walking, she admires the specular beauty around her. The woman looks content in the beginning until suddenly, she reveals that she is dealing with something that has changed her life. Rather than spending quality time with her husband in the garden, she now deals with the fact that the man has lost his life in warfare. Unfortunately, she is confined to a pattern of constant sorrow and mourning. On a deeper level, the poem shows how war wreaks havoc on the family of soldiers. Although they fight and die for a noble cause, the lives of their loved ones become miserable.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Patterns
literary devices are modes that represent the writer’s ideas, feelings, and emotions. It is through these devices they make their few words attract their readers. Amy Lowell has used some literary devices in this poem, whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “I walk down the patterned garden paths” and the sound of /o/ in “And one small flower has dropped upon my bosom.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /h/ in “high-heeled, ribboned shoes.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /r/ in “My dress is richly figured” and the sound of /n/ in “Is the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“In Summer and in Winter I shall walk
Up and down
The patterned garden paths
In my stiff, brocaded gown.”
- Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. The poet has used this device in the second stanza, where the speaker mourns her husband while wearing a wedding dress such as;
“My dress is richly figured,
And the train
Makes a pink and silver stain
On the gravel, and the thrift
Of the borders.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Amy Lowell has used imagery in this poem such as; “With my powdered hair and jewelled fan,”, “My dress is richly figured” and “Tripping by in high-heeled, ribboned shoes.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The writer has used death as an extended metaphor to show how it casts a single shadow on someone’s life.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as love, loss, death, and the role of destiny in our life.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used Patterns
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and impressive images.
- Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are seven stanzas in this poem, with each comprising a different number of verses.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when describing a beautiful natural setting.
“I walk down the garden paths,
And all the daffodils
Are blowing, and the e bright blue squills.
I walk down the patterned garden paths
In my stiff, brocaded gown.”
