Herman Melville (1819-91) was so moved by his chance encounter with Nathaniel Hawthorne, during the legendary Monument Mountain hike of 1850, that he re-wrote Moby-Dick in a matter of months. For a most thorough account of the legendary Monument Mountain hike, Aug. 5, 1850, please see this page at American Heritage.
Since that novel remains required reading among the world’s best-read people two centuries later, it’s no wonder the Berkshires remains celebrated for her cultural roots. Less well-known about Melville is his devotion to poetry, which is demonstrated by his 18,000 line poem Clarel, published in 1878, some twenty years after his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Herman Melville resources online
Poetry by Herman Melville
Art
In placid hours well-pleased we dream
Of many a brave unbodied scheme.
But form to lend, pulsed life create,
What unlike things must meet and mate:
A flame to melt—a wind to freeze;
Sad patience—joyous energies;
Humility—yet pride and scorn;
Instinct and study; love and hate;
Audacity—reverence. These must mate,
And fuse with Jacob’s mystic heart,
To wrestle with the angel—Art.
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