At Melville's Tomb By Hart Crane

Hart Crane, a poet at heart, is the one who wrote the poem, “At Melville’s Tomb, an ode poem to Herman Melville. Herman Melville used to be a sailor when he was young and he also wrote the famous novel, “Moby Dick”. “At Melville’s Tomb” is a poem that talks about Herman Melville’s early life, and 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. In “At Melville’s Tomb” symbolism is a major component of the poem. Hart Crane uses the symbolism of the sea resembling death in the life of Herman Melville and the deaths that are all caused in the sea. Even though the sea is only referred to in the
last line of the poem, it is easy to tell that it is referenced throughout the entire poem. In the first paragraph the “he” that is mentioned a couple of times is referencing the sea. The line, “ The dice of drowned men’s bones he saw bequeath an embassy,” shows how even though the sea is thought of as a game of chance, as represented as the “dice,” it still controls the deaths in it. The sea still enjoys the deaths that it causes. It even says, “ Their numbers as he watched, beat on the dusty shore and were obscured,” which shows the seas enjoyment. It shows how death is watching and waiting for more deaths, and in the poem is it representing death from the viewpoint of the sea were death is normally in control of other people's deaths, which is exactly what the sea is doing in the poem where not only is the sea watching over the other sailors sink and meet their ends, which is death's main goal, which also contributes to the idea of Herman Melville. The allusion in “At Melville’s Tomb” is focused around Herman Melville and his early life. 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. This poem uses an allusion of Herman Melville’s life many times throughout the poem.