Pix: HP Lovecraft & MW Moe around 1935 or so.
I've been having a hard time finding primary reviews of HPL's early or rare works - so I'm trying out AI assessments...
I know most people find that AI can make serious mistakes in works depending on facts but, I'm not good enough as a reviewer to handle a complicated author like Lovecraft.
I'm using Copilot & keeping the review 'light' when it comes to literary jargon.
I'll be editing the AI material as I deem fit.
But, I'd like to hear from readers as to whether this is a failed experiment or not...
This is a touching & melancholic piece - Lovecraft's sentimental side shines here. He fully embraces a traditional ballad-like structure & a tone of deep personal loss.
This poem carries strong echoes of 19th century romanticism, influenced by earlier Victorian poets who explored similar themes.
The imagery here is deeply nostalgic.
With rustic cottage & evening shadows evoking a longing for things that are irrevocably lost.
The chorus solidifies themes of sorrow with its refrain-like structure. And the phrase "pine away" emphasizes the narrator's consuming grief.
It's actually a bit weird to see Howard work in this style. To write something so far removed from his later themes of cosmic horror.
Mythos stories take an entirely different approach, leaning towards existential themes where loss is about the sheer insignificance of humanity in a vast indifferent cosmos.
"My Lost Love", instead, carries a folk song quality, focusing on personal tragedy.
I have to admit that I find this side of Lovecraft interesting - working with heartfelt themes where love & human emotions reign.
In these lines, readers can already see early stylistic elements that will later evolve into horror themes.
The imagery of nature (birds, flowers, twilight) at 1st represents happiness & love - but then, they quickly devolve into symbols of loss & decay.
HPL would continue to refine that contrast, where beauty & nostalgia leads inescapably to dread & doom.
The line "Nevermore to be my love" might be a subtle nod to EA Poe's The Raven.
Poe was a known influence on Lovecraft.
Howard's use of the natural world, to reflect a man's personal grief, would later evolve into a nature that's totally indifferent to human suffering.
The seeds of HPL's later themes - loss, fate & fatalism - already exist, just not in that form...
Lovecraft's protagonist, consumed by grief, finds some peace in poetry. Not just to vent but, to seek human connections who understands his pain.
This idea of a shared misery is something Howard may have related to, given his own losses - his dad, grandmother & grandfather...
Losses he couldn't forget.
PS: Let me know what you think.
