Melville The Making of the Poet |
|
| Author:
| Parker, Hershel |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8101-2464-6 |
| Publication Date: | Dec 2007 |
| Publisher: | Northwestern University Press
|
| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | USD $32.95 |
Book Description:
|
"Who would have looked for philosophy in whales, or for poetry in blubber?" the London
John Bull remarked in October of 1851. And yet, the reviewer went on, "few books which professedly deal in metaphysics, or claim the parentage of the muses, contain as much true philosophy and as much genuine poetry as the tale of the
Pequod's whaling expedition." A decade and a half before surprising the world with a book of Civil war poetry, Melville was...
More Description "Who would have looked for philosophy in whales, or for poetry in blubber?" the London John Bull remarked in October of 1851. And yet, the reviewer went on, "few books which professedly deal in metaphysics, or claim the parentage of the muses, contain as much true philosophy and as much genuine poetry as the tale of the Pequod's whaling expedition." A decade and a half before surprising the world with a book of Civil war poetry, Melville was already confident of what was "poetic" in his prose. As Hershel Parker demonstrates in this book, Melville was steeped in poetry long before he called himself a poet.