The Silence of Shiloh
Herman Melville’s poem Shiloh is a written representation of the Battle of Shiloh that was fought in April 1862 in southwestern Tennessee. As we discussed in class, this battle marked the point in time when Americans began to realize the true magnitude of this war. Occurring a full three years before the Civil War finally came to an end, this battle marks the rude awakening that many Americans felt as they watched their fathers, sons, and husbands die fighting their own countrymen. This poem depicts the power struggle between man and nature, war and peace. It depicts the destruction war can cause as it invades nature, how the two are forced to combine and intermingle and who, in the end, is left to withstand.
What is the aftermath of this battle? Melville leaves the reader with a daunting silence foreboding the next three years in American history that will be plagued by war and death. We begin this poem with a calm description of the nature of Shiloh during the healing month of April. The imagery of the poem takes a turn, however, as the reader learns that the “April rain” is used to quench the thirst of “the parched one stretched in pain” (5-6). As we follow through the poem, we see and hear the impact of war on this once peaceful and pious town. The final silence feels like a consequence of fear rather than relief, as if America is holding her breath astonished by what has happened and fearful of what is to come.
Well said, Shiloh is able to capture this finite silence that defined the mark of the American Civil War. As we discussed in class, I’m almost left feeling hollow are reading Shiloh, which in my opinion I think that was Melville’s intent. I felt like I was able to put myself in the shoes of the Americans who have just realized what a horrible occurrence was happening right around them. It was also surprising to see that Melville didn’t go too much into the Christianity route in this poem, even though the location of this poem has a church and asks for liturgical references, but instead Melville hits the hearts of the reader through different means.