Herman Melville

l8l9—— 189l

I am like a seed from the pyramids of Egypt. Three thousand years later, it is still a seed. Sowing in British soil, the seeds take root and sprout, grow green, and then fall into the land. Me, too. I didn't develop before I was twenty-five, and I started my life at twenty-five. From then until now, I haven't developed myself in less than three weeks.

-Letter to Hawthorne, written during the creation of Moby Dick.

Melville is one of the greatest American novelists and a prolific poet, but people seldom think of his achievements in poetry. Many wonderful paragraphs in his novels have reached the intensity of poetry, but his poems themselves have not reached the excellent level in this sense. However, just like his novels, his poems often evoke various previous experiences-from the excitement of exploration and discovery, to the understanding of the corruption and influence of westerners and their religions, to a fatalistic pessimism-or-occasional temporary reconciliation. He was driven by a sense of urgency to argue with God and society.

Melville 18 19 was born in a wealthy exporter's family in new york. When he was less than thirteen years old, his business father went crazy and went bankrupt, leaving his wife and eight children. Melville did many chores in his early years, including working as a shop assistant, teaching and doing farm work. At the age of eighteen, he signed up as a buddy and went to Liverpool with the boat. Later, after traveling around the United States, he became a sailor on the Agusnay. 1842, he fled to the marquesas islands and lived with the island's cannibal, the taipi people. Later, he fled to a whaling ship in Australia and was imprisoned in Tahiti for participating in riots. He once lived in Hawaii and worked in a bowling alley. 1844 returned to Boston.

From 65438 to 0847, I got married and settled in new york. Evert Dachenko, a well-connected writer, introduced him to the literary society in new york. Melville wrote two books, Taipi (1846) and Oumu (1847), based on his many travels. These two books were so successful that Melville even complained to Hawthorne that he would only be called "the man who lives with cannibals", and this fear was quickly confirmed. His political and religious fable "Madi" is not popular. He returned to Redburn (1849) and White Coat (1950), the writing style of this narrative style. In White Coat, he exposed the dark side of naval law encouraging cruel means.

From 65438 to 0849, Melville moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and finished the first draft of Moby Dick. When this book was published in 185 1, Melville felt more and more disillusioned. People don't like this book. After his main land work Pierre (1852) was rejected by critics, he turned to the short story Pieza (1856), including one of his best novels, Benito Sirano. The following year, he published a severe satirical novel "The Liar", which exposed the intrigue of the commercial society.

People's indifference to his novels prompted him to turn to poetry creation. His visit to the Holy Land from 1856 to 1857 inspired him to write Claire. This poem * * *-18,000 lines, written in eight-syllable double-line style. From 65438 to 0865, he began to live a relatively retired life and worked as a customs officer in new york. Self-published poetry anthology War (1866), Claire (1876), John Marr and Other Sailors (1888) and Timothy (189 1 0). Melville had just finished the manuscript of the novel Billy Budd before 189 1 died, but it was not published. His fame fell so low that it was not until 1924 that this masterpiece was published. Many of his poems were published in the same year. The Straits Diary was published in 1935.

Many of his poems are related to his novels in theme, and they are very important in theme and essence. RandallJarrell spoke highly of this inner connection in his paper "The Poems of Whitman": "In my opinion, Whitman, Dickinson and Melville are the most outstanding poets in America19th century. Melville's poems are greatly underestimated. "

Melville's attitude towards poetry creation is the same as that towards novel creation. The poem "Art" clearly illustrates his artistic creation thought:

When we are calm, we dream.

Many bold and shapeless combinations.

But dissimilar things must meet in pairs:

Give shape, create a vibrant life,

Melting flame-frozen wind;

Sad patience-the power of happiness

Humiliation-pride and contempt

Instinct and research-love and hate

Reckless.-respect. These must match.

With Jacob's mysterious heart.

Fighting angels-art, fighting.

This poem turns from negation to action, and the struggle and victory in the poem are the same as Jacob's. Jacob was sheltered because he met God, but he was injured in the struggle with angels (Jacob's leg was dislocated (Genesis). Creation and destruction, discovery and injury are all done in one action. Intuition and deliberation, content and form, Melville and God-these opposites are brought together in this creative action, and contrast and opposition are clearly defined in the poem, and they offset and balance each other. Melville often tries to find his own expression. The power of poetry is often restricted by the form of poetry that is not commensurate with the theme. Claire is a long-term philosophical debate between belief and doubt, and it often succumbs to formal requirements:

Yes, God is God and man is man.

Forever, so what?

There is a situation-there is time; these

Full of great potential.

Still inserted and changed.

Remember to explain it to you in detail

Even the resulting scriptures—

(Although I don't denigrate)

Theology is difficult to apply.

Although there are many faults in holding it, this poem U, which is twice as long as Paradise Lost, is also full of amazing sentences. Melville's preaching is particularly pretentious, because unlike Longfellow and Emerson, Melville has nothing to teach. He used Socratic skills, asked a lot of questions and answered few questions, so we felt that he was being taught a lesson himself and was skeptical. Claire is an American theologian who explores the spiritual and geographical pilgrimage of Palestine's firm belief. The pilgrimage failed to achieve its goal. However, he joined the long queue of crucified people, shouldering his own taxi stand, and mysteriously disappeared: "more confused and dim towns." The "epilogue" of this poem reminds him that in the process of pilgrimage, he neglected his heart with great enthusiasm:

When crocuses are in bud in the snow-

If a swimmer jumps from the deep sea-

As a secret

It is indeed inspired from the heart that preserves it;

You can emerge from the last submerged ocean.

Prove that death only pushes life to victory.

This poem reminds people of the ending part of the epic Billy Budd, Billy in chains:

But they will tie me to a hammock and throw me into the deep sea.

Shen, Shen, how I want to fall asleep quickly.

I feel sleepy. Sentinel Prime, are you there?

Loosen the shackles on my wrist and let me roll over and lie flat.

I am sleepy, and the weeds like mud are wrapped around me.

What Clare lacks is a feeling that those living people with crosses are moving on their own way. We are just close to the epiphany in Christian mythology that lacks reason and emotion. Billy is more convincing. The innocent Jesuit was hanged and finally buried in the epic. He is walking towards the gallows. Later, he was released. This epic condescends to a novel-like climax of reasoning.

Melville's poems, even those with bitter originality, seem to come from his sublimation experience. Some poems were inspired by the words in his diary at that time, and some poems were influenced by some biblical passages. This may be the reason why his poems are not vivid and touching-no matter how passionate his experiences or themes are. But the truth of this experience is beyond doubt. On the one hand, the poem Omen shows his ability to write poems, on the other hand, it also exposes his unsuccessful skills. Every word of this poem has been carefully carved. The effect is a staggered progress, whether it is rationality or rhythm. This is caused by his attitude towards the art of poetry:

Hanging on the stringer

Slowly swaying (this is the law),

The gaunt shadow falls on your green.

Shanard Valley!

The wound is in the head.

(Oh, john brown)

The wound will never heal.

Hide one's troubles

Nobody can pull it out.

So your future is veiled.

Shana de guyo

However, the floating beard is exposed.

(eccentric Jorgen Brown)

Filariasis caused by war.

This poem is regarded as a powerful poem. It's a poem about the civil war in the war. It looks like a folk song, but it's more complicated and sophisticated than folk songs: from the lush Chanel Valley to the withered corpse john brown, from john brown to the valley. Brown's "something congenial" is meaningful: his face is strange, his beard is gray, and the ominous sign of a meteor shows that he is doomed. Poetry is often a pun, but it is also very clever, using some humorous words and losing the stimulation of the experience itself. Nevertheless, there are some of the best poems in Melville's Seventy-two Wars. Although he supported the North politically, he did not belong to any party on the issue of slavery. In the poem blackmail, he witnessed people going to war:

They flapped their wings on the waves like early morning in June.

Their hearts are as bright as clover in full bloom

It's a breezy summer day,

Life knows this close connection.

How can they think of death in a lovely place?

Will it make the refreshed crowd sparse?

Youth is immortal, just like the supreme God.

The three best poems in John Marr and Other Sailors are: A Cluster of Algae, The Wind and Young Gulls. These poems are better combined than other poems in form and content. The final effect is relatively complete. A cluster of algae is succinctly linked with the theme:

Clusters of wet green,

Thrown up by the lonely sea

Oh, seaweed, are you getting more and more pure?

Bitter, huh?

The image here is very homely and symbolic, but Melville didn't make it clear.

In Timothy, a collection of poems, the sea that gives life to many of Melville's poems is ebbing. The theme of philosophy is obviously dominant. For example, he wrote in "Garden":

Nothing appears here, no one enters here,

Strange silence and silent seclusion here

Who will win satisfaction from loneliness?

Is silence calm or evil?

It is unknown, far away from the world and can keep the valley.

When poets write, language becomes more hidden. The image is not clear at a glance. Poetry is full of philosophical problems.

There is nothing more worthy of appreciation in his poetry anthology "Seaweed and Weeds and One or Two Roses" (1924) published after his death, which only further strengthened the tension in later books. However, there are many enviable places in his works from beginning to end. The philosophical nature in some of his best poems adds a new aspect to his theme, that is, one must make every effort to build a good pillar to live. The rational vitality in the poem is fascinating. In his prose, we look for rich details, images and distinct rhythms. However, in his prose, we can't find the hope that is common in poetry-a hope based on nature rather than God. It reminds people of Emerson and Transcendentalist. "Maier Wenshan" wrote:

Elms on the hillside of Melvin.

Remember everything:

However, sap will be full of new technologies.

No matter how the world changes,

Trees will produce green leaves in spring.