The poet’s father had no qualms about being considered old fashioned but preferred to stick to his favourite drink ‘Bourbon’. It seems from the poem that his father was a man of simple tastes. He cherished the gifts given to him as is clear from the fact that he retained a simple gift of the six pointed lantern given to him on his last Birthday.
His father had not been keeping well and had had two heart attacks. He had been overweight and it was only a little while before his death that he had lost weight and become lean. Old Mr. Lowell never wanted to be a burden on his children. It seems that he moved his residence to the Beverley Farms basically to be able to reach his doctor easily for regular checkups. The poet was not very happy about the fact that this house did not have a good view and was uncomfortably close to the railway tracks.
Despite his failing health, his father was willing to take risks and save money. However, if he had one passion, it was his car. In fact he did not try to economise at all and even paid the dealer extra money over and above the regular price to make sure that he got the piece that he wanted. It was a special Edition with Golden plating in spite of the regular chrome plating. He however always had the grudge that the dealer was unfair to him in charging him so much for this car.
The poet seems to respect his father for his simple tastes also. This is evident from the description of the routine followed by him. He was quite content to spend his mornings at the Maritime Museum, where he seems to have developed quite a relationship with its curator. It seems that he still cherished the days he had spent in the Navy and he relived those days by regularly visiting the Museum where he could be in the midst of all the items a ship would normally have. He completed the picture by carrying his own tools like the Calculus and the Slide-rule.
The poet’s father was a man who never complained however difficult the situation. Even on the day of his death, he hid his pain behind his smiles and only when the pain became unbearable did he tell his wife about it. Since he looked to be quite healthy with perfect vision, his sudden death came somewhat as a surprise. This was despite the fact that he had a history of heart attacks.
To me it seems that the poet is expressing his own feelings of guilt through this poem. The ‘oval Lowell smile’ is probably a mask behind which the Lowells keep their pain hidden. The guilt arises from the fact that he could not be with his father during his last days, probably the days when he needed him the most.
Hemant Sahi
Word Count: 613