Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War
Harper & Brothers of New York released the volume in 1866, a year after the American Civil War ended. The book carried a dedication to three hundred thousand men who fell under the flag of their fathers during that conflict. Melville had not published poetry since 1860 when his own collection was rejected by the same firm. He moved his family from Massachusetts to New York in 1863 and began writing these poems only in 1864. By 1868, the publisher had sold just four hundred eighty-six copies of the book. This sales figure recovered barely half of the costs required to print and distribute the work. Critics at the time were often sharply critical of Melville's unorthodox style while remaining respectful of his reputation.
The collection contains seventy-two short lyric and narrative poems grouped into two distinct sections. The first sequence holds fifty-two poems that portray the history of the war from John Brown's hanging to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. A second series titled Verses Inscriptive and Memorial comprises sixteen elegies, epitaphs, and requiems. Three final poems including The Scout Toward Aldie do not fall into either section. These poems utilize a wide variety of poetic forms and meters throughout the volume. They are united by recurring symbols such as the river, bird, meteor, and Dome found within the text. Melville also utilizes Miltonic imagery and references to Paradise Lost in several poems like The Conflict of Convictions and The Canticle.
Melville included a prose supplement in which he set forth his thoughts on how Reconstruction should be carried out after the fighting stopped. Scholar Robert L. Gale summarizes this meditation as urging Christian charity and common sense with respect to Reconstruction efforts. Melville advocates reconciliation with the South without favoring immediate enfranchisement for former slaves. He describes these freed people as being in their infant pupilage to freedom during this period. He continues by stating that sympathy for them should not exclude kindliness to communities who stand closer to us in nature. His prose argues that we must be Christians toward our fellow-whites as well as philanthropists toward the blacks. This text serves as a direct commentary on the political climate following the war's conclusion.
Richard Henry Stoddard wrote a review noting that the habit of Melville's mind was historical rather than lyric. He argued that rhythm found in traditional poetry acted as a hindrance to Melville's vigorous thought. Stoddard observed that rhyme hampered him still more against both trammels his thought habitually recalcitrated. Despite these criticisms, he found numerous passages of beauty and power within the book. The New York World published an excerpt from the 19th of October 1866, which described it as belonging to a place on shelves collecting literature of the war. Critics at the time were often sharply critical of Melville's unorthodox style while remaining respectful of his reputation.
Critical opinion on Battle-Pieces did not change until the latter half of the 20th century when scholars began re-evaluating it. Lawrence Buell writes that next to Walt Whitman, Melville wrote the best series of Civil War lyrics available. Jamie Fenton sees John Brown depicted in The Portent as a Launcelot in the mode of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Vanessa Meikle Schulman argues that the poetic structure presents a fractured narrative mirroring postwar fragmentation. Mustafa Jalal referred to Melville's style as fundamentally polyphonic or dramatic poetry adopting character creation techniques. Tommy Jamison identified raw nerves regarding materiality ascendant in the industrial age displacing naval manhood in A Utilitarian View of the Monitor's Fight.
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Common questions
When was Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War published?
Harper & Brothers released the volume in 1866, one year after the American Civil War ended. The book carried a dedication to three hundred thousand men who fell under the flag of their fathers during that conflict.
How many copies did Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War sell by 1868?
By 1868, the publisher had sold just four hundred eighty-six copies of the book. This sales figure recovered barely half of the costs required to print and distribute the work.
What poems are included in the first section of Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War?
The first sequence holds fifty-two poems that portray the history of the war from John Brown's hanging to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. These poems utilize a wide variety of poetic forms and meters throughout the volume.
Why did critics initially dislike the style of Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War?
Critics at the time were often sharply critical of Melville's unorthodox style while remaining respectful of his reputation. Richard Henry Stoddard argued that rhythm found in traditional poetry acted as a hindrance to Melville's vigorous thought.
When was Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War re-evaluated by scholars?
Critical opinion on Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War did not change until the latter half of the 20th century when scholars began re-evaluating it. Lawrence Buell writes that next to Walt Whitman, Melville wrote the best series of Civil War lyrics available.