Melville Poetry Discussion

I was going to post this Wednesday night but I wanted to wait for everyone to post on the poems and I’m glad that I did because it helped add to the summary.

“The Portent”, of the two poems this one seemed to be more poetic. The use of a more apparent rhyme scheme (“The Victor of Antietam” seemed to have more of a slant rhyme and less structure). Although “The Portent” was more poetic it still managed to sound like a war chant. The use of “Shenandoah!” in each of the two stanzas added to this feeling. Other aspects of the style of the poem were significant as well; the use of the parenthesis around “(Lo, John Brown)” and “(Weird John Brown)”. In class we agreed that “(Lo, John Brown) meant ‘And thus John Brown’ was foreshadowing the events to come. Line 13 ”(Weird John Brown”) was significant as well referring to how the general public as well as the president viewed Brown. The use of ‘weird’ also had more than one meaning; it can be used to mean out of orbit, kilter or out of a predicted pattern. ‘Weird’ helps to emphasize that Brown was different from other abolitionist and everyone else. One interesting thing that Melville used was his reference to Christ lines 5-7, comparing John Brown to Christ hanging from the cross. This was a radical comparison for that time period because most believed that John Brown was crazy because of his actions and Southerners hated him. These lines really helped to establish Melville’s feelings about the entire situation as well as his feelings toward John Brown. One interesting aspect that was pointed one in class was his reference to Shenandoah, lines 3-4 and lines 10-11. Line three “Gaunt the shadow on your green” represented the shadow of John Brown being cast down on the Shenandoah Valley ultimately foreshadowing the death that would there. Finally line 14 “The meter of the war” we determined could have multiple meanings referring to Brown’s capped head with his beard flowing below or meteor could be a signal to change or an omen.

“The Victor of Antietam”-

The poem starts off telling of a man that was called to duty because he stood out from the rest; we learn that the man is Gen. McClellan. Melville later goes not to praise McClellan and this praise can be argued to be sarcastic at times but is not an outright dismissal of McClellan. Melville writes: “Your tent was choked with captured flags”, Choked does not have a heroic connotation. Also “meet round the board, and sadly view”, this is a reminder that everyone is dead but is also saying ‘good job’. The style that this poem was written in is very unusual it seems closer to prose than poetry. The poem doesn’t seem to have a clear rhythm making it difficult to read aloud. Melville does add strength to the piece through his use of noise and visual imagery. Most of the visual imagery is found in the second stanza: “Though storm-cloud and eclipse must most”, “A pall-cloth on the Seven Days fell”. While most of the noise is found in the fourth and fifth stanzas through his use of ‘drum’, ‘boom’ and “Hearing the far Manassas gun!” Melville poetry is different when compared to the other pieces that we have read. It isn’t abstract, Melville means exactly what he writes and no further analysis is needed. Also like “The Portent” Melville makes a series of historical references that require background knowledge of the time period in order to understand the poem. Melville also makes religious references in this poem, showing how much religion was a part of their everyday lives as well as the lives of others. Finally we found that the poem was circular in nature both ending and beginning with cheers; first with the public cheering and ending with the soldiers cheering.