Herman Melville: Complete Poems: Timoleon / Posthumous & Uncollected / Library of America #320

Melville's Poetry In The Library Of America

This year commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Herman Melville. (August 1, 1819 -- 1891). In celebration of his life and accomplishment, the Library of America has published this volume of Melville's Complete Poems, marking the first time that all of Melville's poetry has been gathered together and made accessible in a single volume. Hershel Parker, a lifelong Melville scholar and the author of a three-volume biography of Melville, edited the volume and prepared the notes on the texts and a chronology of Melville's life. The texts of the poems are based on the definitive Northwestern-Newberry Edition of Melville's Complete Works. Parker himself edited the final two volumes that consist of the final sections included in this LOA volume. Melville's novels and stories have long been available in three large LOA volumes, beginning with the LOA's first volume published in 1982, With the publication of Melville's poetry, Melville's complete writings are now available in the LOA. It was truly a labor of love to edit and publish this volume. Readers of American literature are in Parker's and the LOA's debt.

Melville's poetry is much less well-known that his novels and stories, such as "Moby-Dick" and "Bartelby". His career as a poet began in about 1860, after his apparent failure as a novelist. With the exception of his short novel, "Billy Budd" Melville wrote only poetry from 1860 until the end of his life. His poetry has always received mixed critical reviews at best. It is in a unique style with jagged meters and rhymes and difficult allusions. Still the meter is adopted to the complexity of Melville's thought and observations. With this volume, readers will have the opportunity to explore the poetry carefully and over time.

The four volumes of poetry Melville published in his life all are included. The centerpiece of the volume is Melville's lengthy and long-neglected poem "Clarel" which he published in 1876. At 18,000 lines, "Clarel" is the longest poem written by an American. It is based on a journey Melville took to the Holy Land in 1856-1857. The poem explores Melville's lifelong preoccupation with issues of religious faith and doubt, particularly with the rise of the theory of evolution. It explores many other themes as well, including issues of love and sexuality and politics. The title character is a student of theology and he takes a journey in the Holy Land in the company of other pilgrims who discuss and debate large religious and philosophical questions. The book is difficult and is best read with the aid of a commentary. I read the poem this past year as my own commemoration of Melville's anniversary. The poem will never be popular but it is a gift to have it available.

The most accessible volume of Melville's poetry is "Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War" published in 1867. This book consists of poems gleaned from journalistic reports of the events of the Civil War. The volume is reflective and thoughtful and captures the ambiguity and tragedy of the War more than it does heroic combat. This is the strength of the volume, together with its unusual but poignant meter and verse. "Battle-Pieces" concludes with an essay in which Melville urges a reconciliationist approach to the South. I have read and enjoyed "Battle-Pieces many times over the years, and the work is a good place to start for readers new to Melville's poetry.

Late in his life, Melville published two books of poetry at his own expense. Only 25 volumes of each were printed, suggesting that the books were personal and intended for family and close friends. "John Marr and Other Sailors" is a beautifully reflective work of short and long poems and prose sections in which Melville recollects his early life at sea. The second book "Timoleon" is broader-themed but also centers on wandering and on history. Melville's frequently anthologized poems "After the Pleasure Party" and "The Age of the Antonines" are included in this volume, together with much more.

Melville had been working on two additional volumes, "Weeds and Wildings Chiefly with a Rose or Two" and "Parthenope" at the time of his death. These volumes were carefully edited by Parker for the Newberry edition and are included here. Some of the poems in these collections were likely written before 1860 for Melville's first failed attempt to publish a volume of poetry. Melville wrote long prose introductions to some of the poems. I found the most accessible part of these volumes were the many poems about roses and flowers mostly included in "Weeds and Wildings". These poems are quiet and beautiful. The poems in "Parthenope" gave me trouble on my first readings.

The volume concludes with Melville's uncollected poetry. Perhaps Melville's most familiar poem "Billy in the Darbies" which he used to conclude "Billy Budd" is included here, with much besides.

It is hard to pick a representative sample of Melville's poetry to quote out of this large, mixed body of poems. Thus, I will conclude with the final poem of the volume, a slight work titled "Adieu". It seems a fitting way to end.

"Ring down! The curtain falls, and ye
Will go your ways. Yet think of me.
And genial take what's genial given
And long be happy under heaven."

This book of Melville's complete poems amply fulfills the mission of the Library of America in presenting the best of America's cultural heritage.

Robin Friedman