Robert Lowell’s Collected Poems, edited by Frank Bidart, just appeared on both shores of the Atlantic although he died in 1977. Bidart, Lowell’s graduate student from Harvard, was appointed his literary executor shortly after his death. Why did it take Bidart so long? “Because Lowell was never satisfied with himself,” according to The Economist in its Books and Arts Section this week (”America’s Shelley,” July 5, 2003). He kept re-writing and re-publishing his poems throughout his life. Bidart had to track down all versions of each poem so as to select the one he deemed best. By comparison, my literary executor will have the easiest of jobs. Why? Because I am always satisfied with myself.