Although he surprised the world in 1866 with his first published book of poetry,
Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War , Herman Melville had long been steeped in poetry. This new offering in the authoritative
Northwestern-Newberry
series,
The Writings of Herman Melville , with a historical note by Hershel Parker, is testament to Melville the poet. Penultimate in the publication of the series, Published Poems follows the release of Melville’s verse epic,
Clarel
(1876), and with it, contains the entirety of the poems published during Melville’s lifetime:
Battle-Pieces , as well as
John Marr and Other Sailors , with
Some Sea-Pieces
(1888), and
Timoleon
Etc. (1891). As with the other volumes in the
Northwestern-Newberry
series, the aim of this edition of Published Poems is to present a text as close to the author’s intention as surviving evidence permits. To that end, the editorial appendix includes a historical note by Hershel Parker, the dean of Melville scholars, which gives a compelling, in-depth account of how one of America’s greatest writers grew into the vocation of a poet; an essay by G. Thomas Tanselle on the printing and publishing history of the works in Published Poems; a textual record that identifies the copy-texts for the present edition and explains the editorial policy; and substantial scholarly notes on individual poems.