John Marr and Other Poems

by Herman Melville, Henry Chapin (Introduction)

John Marr and other poems.--Sea pieces.--Poems from Timoleon.--Supplement.--Poems from Battle pieces.--Poems from Mardi.--Poems from Clarel.

JOHN MARR AND OTHER POEMS

JOHN MARR AND OTHER SAILORS
BRIDEGROOM DICK
TOM DEADLIGHT
JACK ROY

SEA PIECES

THE HAGLETS
THE JEOLIAN HARP
TO THE MASTER OF THE "METEOR"
FAR OFF SHORE
THE MAN-OF-WAR HAWK
THE FIGURE-HEAD
THE GOOD CRAFT "SNOW BIRD"
OLD COUNSEL
THE TUFT OF KELP
THE MALDIVE SHARK 74
TO NED 75
CROSSING THE TROPICS 77
THE BERG 78
THE ENVIABLE ISLES 80
PEBBLES 81

POEMS FROM TIMOLEON
LINES TRACED UNDER AN IMAGE
OF AMOR THREATENING 85
THE NIGHT MARCH 86
THE RAVAGED VILLA 87
THE NEW ZEALOT TO THE SUN 88
MONODY 90
LONE FOUNTS 91
THE BENCH OF BOORS 92
ART 93
THE ENTHUSIAST 94
SHELLEY'S VISION 96
THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS 97
THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES 98
HERBA SANTA 100
OFF CAPE COLONNA 103
THE APPARITION 104
I/ ENVOI 105

SUPPLEMENT 109

POEMS FROM BATTLE PIECES

THE PORTENT 129
FROM THE CONFLICT OF CONVICTIONS 130
THE MARCH INTO VIRGINIA 132
BALL'S BLUFF 134
THE STONE FLEET 136
THE "TEMERAIRE" 138
A UTILITARIAN VIEW OF
THE "MONITOR'S" FIGHT 141
MALVERN HILL 143
STONEWALL JACKSON 145
THE HOUSE-TOP 146
CHATTANOOGA 148
ON THE PHOTOGRAPH OF
A CORPS COMMANDER 151
THE SWAMP ANGEL 153
SHERIDAN AT CEDAR CREEK 155
IN THE PRISON PEN 157
THE COLLEGE COLONEL 158
THE MARTYR 160
REBEL COLOR-BEARERS AT SHILOH 162
AURORA BOREALIS 164
THE RELEASED REBEL PRISONER 165
"FORMERLY A SLAVE" 167
ON THE SLAIN COLLEGIANS 168
AMERICA 171
INSCRIPTION 174
THE FORTITUDE OF THE NORTH 175
THE MOUND BY THE LAKE 176
ON THE SLAIN AT CHICKAMAUGA 177
AN UNINSCRIBED MONUMENT 178
ON THE GRAVE OF A YOUNG CAVALRY
OFFICER KILLED IN THE VALLEY
OF VIRGINIA 179
A REQUIEM 180
COMMEMORATIVE OF A NAVAL VICTORY 182
A MEDITATION 184

POEMS FROM MARDI

WE FISH 189
INVOCATION 191
DIRGE 193
MARLENA 194?
PIPE SONG 195
SONG OF YOOMY 196
GOLD 197
THE LAND OF LOVE 199

POEMS FROM CLAREL

DIRGE 203
EPILOGUE 204

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. At the time of his death, Melville was no longer well known to the public, but the 1919 centennial of his birth was the starting point of a Melville revival. Moby-Dick eventually would be considered one of the great American novels.
Melville was born in New York City, the third child of a prosperous merchant whose death in 1832 left the family in dire financial straits. He took to sea in 1839 as a common sailor on a merchant ship and then on the whaler Acushnet, but he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. Typee, his first book, and its sequel, Omoo (1847), were travel-adventures based on his encounters with the peoples of the islands. Their success gave him the financial security to marry Elizabeth Shaw, the daughter of the Boston jurist Lemuel Shaw. Mardi (1849), a romance-adventure and his first book not based on his own experience, was not well received. Redburn (1849) and White-Jacket (1850), both tales based on his experience as a well-born young man at sea, were given respectable reviews, but did not sell well enough to support his expanding family.
Melville's growing literary ambition showed in Moby-Dick (1851), which took nearly a year and a half to write, but it did not find an audience, and critics scorned his psychological novel Pierre: or, The Ambiguities (1852). From 1853 to 1856, Melville published short fiction in magazines, including "Benito Cereno" and "Bartleby, the Scrivener". In 1857, he traveled to England, toured the Near East, and published his last work of prose, The Confidence-Man (1857). He moved to New York in 1863, eventually taking a position as a United States customs inspector.
From that point, Melville focused his creative powers on poetry. Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866) was his poetic reflection on the moral questions of the American Civil War. In 1867, his eldest child Malcolm died at home from a self-inflicted gunshot. Melville's metaphysical epic Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land was published in 1876. In 1886, his other son Stanwix died of apparent tuberculosis, and Melville retired. During his last years, he privately published two volumes of poetry, and left one volume unpublished. The novella Billy Budd was left unfinished at his death, but was published posthumously in 1924. Melville died from cardiovascular disease in 1891.

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

"John Marr" is a short prose work.

I have three books with the title Billy Budd and Other Stories; all have different combinations of stories. Only one has "John Marr" and it is described in Harold Beaver's lengthy introduction as "experimental".

"John Marr" is a biographical sketch of an old sailor who ends up among farmers, far from the ocean (to his land bound neighbours the ocean existed only as a "rumour"). The old sailor then is a fish out of water, as estranged from his neighbours as he is from his old companions.

Is "John Marr" a prose poem, as suggested by the title of this collection? It is relatively opaque, and perhaps that is why Mr. Beaver considers it experimental.

Note: I've only read "John Marr"; not the other works in this volume.

[Prisoner 071053 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't care much for the longer pieces, the dialect infused into the poems, or the loose meter in a lot of it. However, I really enjoyed the short lyrical poems; I'd have read more of that sort. It's obvious Melville is quite capable of metrical proficiency, so it's curious that he did so poorly (to my ear) in a lot of places. Worth the read all the same.

[Devin Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Marr may be one of the most devastating things Melville ever wrote, and the epistle that begins the book is striking if you know the publishing history of Moby Dick. The rest of the poems are alright.

[Lavender · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always struggle with poetry. I can either read it as a lyric and get the rhyming and rhythm down so it sounds good, but I miss some meaning. I can read it for meaning alone and miss the musicality of it. I think I need to always read poetry 2 or 3 times to be able to get both meaning and the correct sounds and form. These poems were a mix of sea poems, battle poems and a few from longer novels. The imagery was very good especially in the battle pieces.

[Timothy]

Various Poems:

John Marr and Other Sailors
Bridegroom Dick
Tom Deadlight
Jack Roy
Sea Pieces
The Haglets
The Aeolian Harp
To the Master of the Meteor
Far Off-Shore
The Man-of-War Hawk
The Figure-Head
The Good Craft Snow Bird
Old Counsel
The Tuft of Kelp
The Maldive Shark
To Ned
Crossing the Tropics
The Berg
The Enviable Isles
Pebbles
Lines Traced Under an Image of Amor Threatening
The Night March
The Ravaged Villa
The New Zealot to the Sun
Monody
Lone Founts
The Bench of Boors
Art
The Enthusiast
Shelley's Vision
The Marchioness of Brinvilliers
The Age of the Antonines
Herba Santa
Off Cape Colonna
The Apparition
Supplement
The Portent
From the Conflict of Convictions
The March Into Virginia
Ball's Bluff
The Stone Fleet
The Temeraire
Malvern Hill
Stonewall Jackson
The House-Top
Chattanooga
On the Photograph of a Corps Commander
The Swamp Angel
Sheridan at Cedar Creek
In the Prison Pen
The College Colonel
The Martyr
Rebel Color-Bearers at Shiloh
Aurora Borealis
The Released Rebel Prisoner
On the Slain Collegians
America
Inscription
The Fortitude of the North
The Mound by the Lake
On the Slain at Chickamauga
An Uninscribed Monument
On the Grave of a Young Cavalry Officer
Commemorative of a Naval Victory
We Fish
Invocation
Dirge
Marlena
Pipe Song
Song of Yoomy
Gold
The Land of Love
Dirge
Epilogue