Pick two poets who seem to have nothing to do with each other — a Gothic American and a pastoral Englishman, say — and see where the catalogue actually joins them: overlapping years, shared ground, distinctive themes, and the poems that secretly rhyme.
Herman Melville
Julia Ward Howe
A random pair who overlapped in time and whose poems already rhyme in the catalogue — a way into poets you may not have met.
Herman Melville stands as one of American literature's most enigmatic and profound figures, a writer whose genius went largely unrecognized during his lifetime but whose works have come to define the very essence of American literary ambition. Born on August 1, 1819, in New York City, and dying in relative obscurity on September 28, 1891, Melville's seventy-two years encompassed a life of remarkable adventure, creati…
“I try all things, I achieve what I can.”
On a cold November morning in 1861, Julia Ward Howe awoke in her room at Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., with verses forming in her mind. She had visited Union Army camps the previous day, witnessing thousands of soldiers preparing for battle while singing "John Brown's Body." Now, in the pre-dawn darkness, words came to her with unusual clarity and force. Rising quietly so as not to disturb her sleeping childre…
“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.”
About 0 km separate New York City, New York, USA from New York City, New York, USA. Both have ground in New York City and New York.
Distinctive words drawn from each poet’s critiqued poems — what they keep writing about, not just what their biographies mention.
Herman Melville: new york city, typee, moby-dick, nathaniel hawthorne, whaling, bartleby, fairhaven, acushnet. Julia Ward Howe: washington d.c., battle hymn of the republic, john brown's body, passion flowers, samuel gridley howe, american woman suffrage association, mother's day proclamation, municipal housekeeping.
The closest poem-to-poem matches in critique space — the sort of kinship a listener hears before the catalogue admits it.
Notable events from the years they were both alive.
Herman Melville: Wonder, Fear, Spirituality. Julia Ward Howe: Irony, Sorrow, Spirituality.
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