Hart Crane, a poet at heart, is the author of the poem, “At Melville’s Tomb”, an ode poem to Herman Melville. Herman Melville was a sailor in the youth and and later in his life wrote the famous novel, “Moby Dick”(pbs.org). “At Melville’s Tomb” is a poem that talks about Herman Melville’s life: from his early life to his death. The poem’s theme is about how the sea cannot take everything away from Melville. Crane uses symbolism, allusion, and even juxtaposition to help further explain the theme of the poem. Symbolism is a major component of the poem “At Melville’s Tomb”. Hart Crane uses the symbolism of the sea to resemble the death of Herman Melville and the deaths that are all caused in the sea. Even though the sea is only referred to in …show more content…
Herman Melville was a sailor at an early age and went through many different experiences with the sea and with his crew mates. He has also been a writer after his experiences in the sea, he uses those to further his writing. Herman Melville used his experiences to write the famous novel “Moby Dick,” that didn’t get any appreciation until he was dead.(pbs.org) This poem uses an allusion of Herman Melville’s life many times throughout the poem. The entire concept of the poem centered around the sea and what it can do to people’s lives is all connected to Herman Melville’s life. He spent many of his early years on a boat overseas, working as a whaler which inspired him to write “Moby Dick”(pbs.org). Without even knowing that Herman Melville was a sailor or that he even wrote the book “Moby Dick,” the title gave it all away. The title is called, “At Melville’s Tomb,” which is pretty easy to put the pieces together to find out that the poem was about him. To know that the story is about Herman Melville, a dead sailor/author, is a major part of the poem and the story behind it, because then a person wouldn’t be able to figure out why it focuses so much around the sea, or why it talks so big about him, as the quote mentions, “This fabulous shadow only the sea keeps”(16). The allusion of Herman Melville throughout the story is a significant part to the poem, and something that also ties into the juxtaposition of the last line in the poem about