Robert Lowell`s poetry

One of my favorite poems written by Robert Lowell is the one entitled For the Union Dead. Many important and significant issues and questions of the 20th century America are raised and answered in it by the author`s own (sometimes not PC or governmentally approved) point of view. First, we could mention his dissenting opinion about the demolition of the past in Boston in order to have a more modern, really 20th century city. He tries to justify the sense and the reason for existence of the old parts of the city by recollecting his far child memories, remembering the unforgettable moments he spent in the Aquarium. His efforts seem to be absolutely futile; people in the modern, capitalist America do not care about remnants of the old world, they want more and more garages, more and more space to their cars to park. In this poems cars and parking lots embody the `brave new world`, the modern America of the 60 s. The other relevant issue is, I think, the `sweet and glorious death for our homeland`. Is it really as sweet and as glorious as `advertised` by the all-time government propaganda? Taking a look at Colonel Shaw`s war monument, we may say, seeing that even the one-time so appreciated colonel is `hindering the necessary development`, no, there is no point in dying for our country, as sooner or later even the great winners will be disposed of. Eventually, he died for nothing; his name will not be noted later on but rather wiped out together with those of the common soldiers. The clashing of the past and the present is present again. Although this does not appear overtly in this poem (we only have some allusions to this), we should know, as Michael Thurston notices, Lowell`s `ambiguity` towards `negroes`. This issue should require a whole new entry; here it seems to be satisfying to claim the well known fact that the 60s were the era of the civil rights movements and the approval of Blacks` rights.
The great devastation caused by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima is also mentioned, but now, in the 60s, it is linked, as everything, to advertisements, this is just another tool in the hands of some great companies to attract people`s attention. The fear and the possibility of a similar blast seem to be excluded; only the happy parts of life are emphasized.
The same motive comes back in Fall 1961, but in this case there is no trace of happy advertisements but the cruel and harsh realities of an absolutely possible war are depicted. The title of the poem may be as well `End is Nigh`-so wake up and be prepared. A nuclear war could have easily happened, killing more people than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, destroying our homes, people and cultural heritage piled up during long decades. Maybe due to Providence or human agreement, we managed to avoid the worst, but who knows, maybe in future, everything will be repeated again and that time we will not be able to get away with the huge blast…(I hope this will never happen, anyway…!)