Skunk Hour

"Skunk Hour" Poem

"Skunk Hour" was published by Lowell in his famous Life Studies (1959) poetry collection. It was the last poem in the collection, but it is now one of his most famous.

"Skunk Hour" Poem Summary

The speaker begins the poem by setting the scene: Nautilus Island, a coastal town in Maine. He describes an old heiress who uses her money to maintain tradition. She has lived in the same cottage for a long time despite her wealth, her son is a bishop, and she employs a farmer who helps run the government in the village as the "first selectman" (5). Craving privacy, the old woman buys the houses around her so she can watch them deteriorate. The season has changed to fall. The town's picture-perfect millionaire is gone, his possessions auctioned off. The town's decorator gets his shop ready for fall, but he would rather marry than work for next to nothing.

The speaker drives his old car to the top of a hill and spies on young lovers in "love-cars" (27) during their midnight trysts. The speaker realizes there is something wrong with his mind for craving the gratification of watching others. He calls himself "hell" (35). But as he sits there, he watches skunks come marching down Main Street. They seem almost demonic as they walk purposefully, looking for food. Back at home, the speaker breathes deeply as a mother skunk digs in his garbage can while her babies cling to her. She finds a cup of sour cream to feast on and "will not scare" (48).

"Skunk Hour" Analysis

Somber imagery, deathly allusions, and brazen symbolism all work together to create the gloomy, bitter, unstable tone of the poem. They also present the themes of mental illness, isolation, and the desire to live intently.

Tone and Imagery

The tone shifts along with the imagery throughout the poem, going from gloomy to bitter to unstable.

In the first two stanzas, the speaker uses words like "island" (1), "hermit" (1), and "privacy" (8), creating a feeling of loneliness and gloom:

The gloomy tone is set by the imagery: an ancient, solitary cottage, sheep staring at an endless sea, and "eyesores" tumbling down. The speaker feels isolated from the heiress and her family, and, as the poem progresses, it becomes clear that he does not feel close to anyone in town.

Fig. 1 - The heiress "still lives" in her old cottage.

The imagery in the third and fourth stanzas shifts, becoming more modern and connected. The speaker introduces a millionaire who would visit in the summer and

While the imagery becomes more modern, the tone becomes bitter. The speaker seems to envy other people's lives, especially their ability to form connections with one another. He jealously watches couples having sex in their cars:

The speaker is bitter that he can not get close enough to someone to have the same kind of relationship. His bitterness and desire to watch others in the darkness finally reveals the overarching feeling of instability that has before only been hinted at in the poem. The speaker comes right out and says, "My mind’s not right" (30) after seeing the lovers. The way he later describes the skunks as if they were demonic and otherworldly further hints at the instability of the poem.

Allusion

The speaker's use of allusion also depicts his precarious mental state. He says that he hears

The blues song that he is referring to was a popular song performed by Bessie Smith (1925). In this anti-love song of sorts, the narrator threatens to kill his/her lover. The lyrics vary slightly depending on the singer, but in each version the singer has been spurned by love.

The speaker also makes an allusion to John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) when he says, "I myself am hell" (35). In Milton's classic poem about the fall of mankind, Satan says, "Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell” (Book 4, line 75). The speaker is subtly comparing himself to the devil. The assertion that Hell is an inherent part of him also suggests that he sees no way to escape his personal torment.

Symbolism

Although the skunks only appear in the last third of the poem, they are the primary symbol in "Skunk Hour." The skunks represent a purposeful way of living and a willingness to get dirty in order to get what one wants. The speaker is at first disgusted when he sees them walking down the street:

They walk almost like zombies, with a singular purpose that does not waver. They exist defiantly in this human space, otherwise filled with heiresses, interior designers, cars, and lovers. When the speaker gets home and watches as the mother skunk digs through trash to feed her babies, he looks at them with newfound respect:

The mother's single-minded determination to feed her children is a kind of purposeful, intentional living that the speaker is unfamiliar with. As gross as they are, the skunks symbolize a drive, a purpose, and a community. Regardless of what other people (the humans) think of them, the skunks accomplish their goals and do as they please.

Fig. 2 - The skunks symbolize the purposeful, unabashed lifestyle that the speaker craves.

Personification

The speaker personifies his spirit, speaking as though it has a voice of its own and is something that he needs to be protected from:

He talks about his spirit as if it is unwell and hostile towards him. It invades his blood cells, taking control of his body. The personification further reinforces the mental illness that has been hinted at in the first stanzas and becomes obvious towards the end of the poem.

"Skunk Hour" Themes

The main themes in the poem are loneliness, mental illness, and the desire to live intently.

Loneliness and Mental Illness

The speaker experiences extreme loneliness in the poem, largely due to his mental illness. He knows intimate details about everyone in town, but he is never able to get close enough to truly form a connection. He knows all about the heiress's family, the decorator's desire to get married, and the spot where teenagers go to hook up. But he is kept out of every social sphere. The speaker constantly feels isolated, and the situation is only exacerbated by his mental illness.

He reveals that he hates himself but feels trapped, saying,

His mental illness won't let him escape, nor will it let anyone else inside. The speaker longs for the simple, purposeful life of the skunks instead of the hell he inhabits in his own mind.

Desire to Live Intently

The speaker finds unconventional hope in the skunks, who walk purposefully through the streets and dig through garbage. Unlike him, they know exactly what they want in life. All the skunks search for is food, but that intentional living is something the speaker is not used to. Instead of looking for meaning in the lives of other people, the skunks define meaning for themselves.

At the end of the poem, the speaker watches the mother skunk and states that she "will not scare" (48). No matter what obstacles she encounters, she is ready to face them all. She doesn't care if others think she's disgusting or if the weight of the community is upon her. All she cares about is satisfying her own needs and taking care of her family.

"Skunk Hour" Meaning

The primary antagonist in "Skunk Hour" is the speaker's mental illness and self-hatred. Although he realizes he has a problem, the speaker has no idea how to solve it and feels trapped in his own mind. He watches the lives of people in town, but he is unable to form a connection or experience life with them. He feels as though he's a constant outsider on the outskirts of society. The speaker's life becomes so lonely and meaningless that he has to watch other people having sex, buying houses, decorating their stores, and auctioning off boats for him to find any real meaning.

The only hope the speaker finds for an escape is in the presence of skunks. Though they are seen by society as disgusting, the skunks live their lives purposefully and are not afraid of who they are. They don't need other people's praise in order to feel a sense of self-worth or purpose. Instead, they live for themselves and take care of one another. If the skunks can live freely and purposefully, the speaker can too.