The Portent
by Herman Melville
Hanging from the beam,
Slowly swaying (such the law),
Gaunt the shadow on your green,
Shenandoah!
The cut is on the crown
(Lo, John Brown),
And the stabs shall heal no more.
Hidden in the cap
Is the anguish none can draw;
So your future veils its face,
Shenandoah!
But the streaming beard is shown
(Weird John Brown),
The meteor of the war.
I like the approach. It feels like a modern poster, not what you'd expect for a Melville likeness. If makes him seem fresher. Noice!
ReplyDeleteThanx, pop. Glad you have the power to comment once again. This is actually meant to be a portrait of John Brown, who the poem is about. It's based on this image:
ReplyDeletehttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/John_Brown_portrait%2C_1859-face_crop.jpg
Ah. Well easy to make the mistake. Here's Melville: https://ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/hermanmelvilleheadshot.jpg
ReplyDeleteYes, they are both amongst the most hard core beard havers.
ReplyDelete