Melville as Poet

E. Marovitz Sanford

Description

Herman Melville's literary reputation is based chiefly on his fiction, especially Moby-Dick and Billy Budd. Yet he was a gifted poet, as evidenced by his collection of Civil War poems, Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), and by his epic-length poem, Clarel (1876), a symbolic rendering of his pilgrimage of 1856-57 to the Holy Land, as well as the two small volumes of poems he published before his death in 1891. Melville as Poet: The Art of "Pulsed Life" opens with an introduction by Sanford E. Marovitz and the late Douglas Robillard on Melville's conception of poetry as a literary form. The essays begin with Dennis Berthold's study of how Melville's observations of art at New York's National Academy of Design in 1865 are reflected in Battle-Pieces, and Mary K. Bercaw Edwards follows, describing how the nautical combat of the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack became a subject of wide contemporary interest in popular culture. The next three essays focus on Clarel. Peter Riley explains how Melville's familiarity with the congestion of Lower Manhattan as a customs inspector influenced his descriptions of Jerusalem. Gordon M. Poole then discusses notable subtleties in Ruggero Bianchi's Italian translation of the poem, and Robert R. Wallace reveals how selected Biblical prints and other graphics familiar to Melville affected the poet's descriptions in Clarel. Melville's John Marr and Other Sailors (1888) is then examined by A. Robert Lee, who emphasizes the themes of memory and death in that small volume, and Sanford E. Marovitz illuminates Melville's method of unifying Timoleon, Etc. by using contrast to bind, not separate. Vernon Shetley compares Melville's "Pausilippo" thematically with Shelley's "Julian and Maddalo," and Michael Jonik explores "The Archipelago" for insights into Melville's experimentation with imagery and form. Finally, Wyn Kelley, Clark Davis, and Robert Sandberg imaginatively examine and reassess poems Melville left unpublished at his death. Melville as Poet is a valuable collection of new and critical scholarship that aims to encourage more and deeper study of Melville's art of poetry.

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781612777078
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Melville as Poet

Melville as

poet

The Art of “Pulsed Life”

eDITED by

sanford e. Marovitz

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thE PubLIShER gRàTEFuLLy àckNOwLEDgES ThE LàTE dOugLàS rObILLàRD FOR hIS VàLuàbLE EDITORIàL cONTRIbuTIONS TO ThIS VOLumE.

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WE àRE hONORED TO DEDIcàTE ThIS VOLumE TO ThE LàTE pROFESSOR dOugLàS rObILLàRD, whO wàS INSTRumENTàL IN ITS cONcEPTION àND EàRLy STàgES OF EDITINg. dOug’S ExTENSIVE SchOLàRShIP ON MELVILLE’S POETRy IS wIDELy kNOwN àND àDmIRED. UNFORTuNàTELy, hE wàS STRIckEN wITh àN ILLNESS ThàT NEcES- SITàTED hIS wIThDRàwàL àS EDITOR, buT hE wàS gRàcIOuS ENOugh TO PROVIDE àN INTRODucTION TO ThE cOLLEcTION, FOR whIch wE àRE PROFOuNDLy gRàTEFuL.

In placid hours well-pleased we dream oF màNy à bRàVE uNbODIED SchEmE. BuT FORm TO LEND, PuLSED LIFE cREàTE, WhàT uNLIkE ThINgS muST mEET àND màTE: A ame to melt—a wind to freeze; Sad patience—joyous energies; Humility—yet pride and scorn; Instinct and study; love and hate; Audacity—reverence. These must mate, aND FuSE wITh JàcOb’S mySTIc hEàRT, To wrestle with the angel—Art.

—Herman Melville, “Art”

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CONTENTS

fOREwORD Elizabeth Renker ackNOwLEDgmENTS iNTRODucTION Douglas Robillard, revised and edited by Sanford E. Marovitz pIcTORIàL iNTERTExTS FORBattle-Pieces:MELVILLE àT ThE National Academy of Design, 865 Dennis Berthold rEcONTExTuàLIZINg MELVILLE’SMonitorpOEmS Mary K. Bercaw Edwards MELVILLE’S BIbLIcàL pRINTS àNDClarel Robert K. Wallace URbàN àND METRIcàL fORmS INClarel Peter Riley ClarelIN iTàLy, iTàLy INClarel:fROm pOEm TOPoema Gordon M. Poole a pIcTuRE sTàmPED IN MEmORy’S MINT:John Marr and Other Sailors  A. Robert Lee CONNEcTINg by CONTRàST: thE “aRT” OFTimoleon, Etc.  Sanford E. Marovitz a fàILuRE TO COmmuNIcàTE: shELLEy’S “JuLIàN àND MàDDàLO” àND MELVILLE’S “pàuSILIPPO” Vernon Shetley “iSLES OF abSENTEES”: thE fORm OF ThE aRchIPELàgO IN MELVILLE’S WRITINg Michael Jonik

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“fREE rObE àND vEST”: MELVILLE’S UNcOLLEcTED vERSE Wyn Kelley MELVILLE àND ThE pOETIcS OF vENTRILOquISm: GIVINg vOIcE “At the Hostelry” Clark Davis lITERàRy rEPRISES: rhETORIcàL sTàgINg àND dRàmàTIc pERFORmàNcE in Melville’s Prose-and-Verse Writings Robert Sandberg List of Contributors Index

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Roughly a century ago, readers and scholars discovered Herman Melville, who had died in 89 as a mostly forgotten writer. The Melville revival of ThàT TImE wàS FuELED IN LàRgE PàRT by àSTONIShmENT, ExcITEmENT, àND àwE OVER ThE gREàTNESS OFMoby-Dick.tODày wE STàND àT ThE bRINk OF à NEw REVIVàL: ThE REcLàmàTION OF MELVILLE’S LONg àND VàRIED càREER àS à POET. MELVILLE PuRSuED hIS INTENSE DEDIcàTION TO wRITINg POETRy FOR mORE ThàN three decades—far longer than his career publishing îction. Yet, his po- etry is still often overlooked, judged dismissively, and left out of literary histories. One of the great triumphs of this collection, the îrst book of PREVIOuSLy uNPubLIShED ESSàyS DEVOTED ExcLuSIVELy TO MELVILLE’S POETRy, IS ThàT IT àuguRS à ShIFT IN OuR cuLTuRE’S VàLuàTION OF MELVILLE ThE POET.  iT IS EàSy TO DEmONSTRàTE, hISTORIcàLLy, ThàT ThE wày REàDERS uNDERSTàND MELVILLE’S gENIuS ShIFTS OVER TImE. thE cLIché ThàT hE wàS à FàILED OR bàD poet is a historical residue of the îrst Melville revival. At that time, many scholars were mystiîed by the diculties of his poems, and so judged them TO bE FàILuRES. thIS DISmISSIVE àSSESSmENT bEcàmE ThE STàNDàRD àccOuNT, REPEàTED FOR DEcàDES EVEN by PEOPLE whO DID NOT REàD ThE POEmS càREFuLLy or at all. In short, the judgment that Melville was a bad poet had become a cliché. The reception history of Melville’s înal published work of îction DuRINg hIS LIFETImE,The Conîdence-Man(857), oers a relevant historical LESSON.The Conîdence-ManàLSO mET wITh INITIàL INcOmPREhENSION. fOR OVER

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