Melville and Dickinson

I saw many connections between Dickinson’s “The Name of It Is “Autumn”” and Melville’s “The Victor of Antietam.” Both poems employ a lot of nature imagery. Melville speaks of a tempest and a storm-cloud while Dickinson speaks of a storm. On a straight forward level, both poets mention “a line.” Melville’s “winnowed grain from bran” can be related to Dickinson’s leaves falling off of trees. Both poems progress through action and the battle. Dickinson’s imagery produces a story of troops lining up, then soldiers being killed, and then ambulances carrying away the soldiers. Melville’s poem spoke of preparing for battle, through the battle, and then the aftermath. It can also be viewed as an eulogy for McClellan’s generalship.
The most obvious difference is that Melville actually names Antietam as his topic when one can only speculate that Dickinson was speaking of the single bloodiest day in American history. Also, Dickinson’s entire poem is a metaphor for the battle while Melville’s is more literal. Dickinson’s metaphorical poem is more gentle on a reader and does not force them to think specifically of war as Melville’s does. As, Melville’s poem seems to be a direct address to General McClellan while Dickinson is speaking to a much broader audience (pretty much anyone.)

Oh, and I also thought it was interesting that Melville stated “The one-armed lift the wine to you” since Stonewall Jackson lost an arm before he died.