The Taxi

The Taxi, by Amy Lowell, is an Imagist poem that relies heavily on imagery, rather than abstract ideas, to reveal meaning to the reader. The author uses free verse to allow the images and lines to speak for themselves and stand alone as individual lines. By doing so, each line offers its own tone and meaning, which then adds to the overall feel of the poem. Lowell wrote this poem to a love interest, clearly stating the meaning of the poem. She speaks as if the reader is the one being called after. The reader is entranced in her short poem filled with imagery to set the mood; the dire, last goodbye that seemed to separate the two forever. The poet's love for this person was also shown in her other works, and has made it very clear that there was a connection (Highleyman). This connection reveals the theme to be that she is lost without love. Before breaking the poem down into fragments for a line-by-line analysis, it can first be analyzed as a whole.

To begin, the reader may gather that the poem has a very dark and saddened tone. Due to Lowell's vivid imagery, a mental image of a dark urban setting is created. It also seems very cold, with the mentioning of wind and nighttime. Readers may be able to relate to urban places they know, adding to the reality of the poem. Connections can be made. The imagery is left in such a way that the reader can fill in the gaps with their own memories or settings. Also, since the poem uses free verse, the structure is left open to interpretation. This makes the poem more inviting and easier to interpret, rather than reading it as a riddle. However, though simple in imagery, the poem still captures the reader's interest due to the creation it sparks, yet it never strays away from the theme of bei...

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... narrator has gone is not important, the car lights are out of the reader's sight and the poem has come to an end.

Lowell was an Imagist poet, and by doing so, she has created a scene with as few words as possible. However, she was able to breathe life into each line by making sure emphasis and connotation fell upon the right words. Through this, she made the theme very clear; that she would be lost without love. Ada Dwyer Russell, the suspected subject of Lowell's desire, was the same reader left at the curb. However, with such vivid imagery, she could be replaced with anyone who reads the poem.

Works Cited

Highleyman, Liz. "Who was Amy Lowell?." Lesbian News 33.3 (2007): 45. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.

Rollyson, Carl. "The absence of Amy Lowell." New Criterion 26.1 (2007): 77-80. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.