- description
- # The Conflict of Convictions.
## Overview - What this is (type, form, dates, scope)
"The Conflict of Convictions." is a segment of text, identified as a poem, extracted from the larger work [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9) The segment spans lines 83-193 of the source file [battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8) and was extracted on January 30, 2026. The poem is part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The title suggests a thematic focus on the clash of beliefs.
## Context - Background and provenance from related entities
This poem is part of a collection of poetry, "Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.", which is contained within the larger "Melville Complete Works" collection. The text was extracted from the file "battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt". The poem is preceded by the segment "Misgivings." (arke:01KG8AJJNT0FSG24TGGF6VBS3F) and followed by "Apathy and Enthusiasm." (arke:01KG8AJJNP16MN6G7EQBJSBQMR).
## Contents - What it contains, key subjects and details
The poem begins with a reflection on the "Conflict of Convictions." and includes several stanzas, some of which are set off with parenthetical phrases. The poem touches upon themes of hope, faith, and the passage of time. It references biblical figures and concepts, such as "Satan," "Raphael," and "God," and contemplates the role of individuals and generations in the face of "Necessity." The poem concludes with a declaration of the interplay of opposing forces, "YEA, AND NAY--EACH HATH HIS SAY; BUT GOD HE KEEPS THE MIDDLE WAY."
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:22.794Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- The Conflict of Convictions.
- end_line
- 193
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:35.910Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 83
- text
- The Conflict of Convictions.[1]
(1860-1.)
On starry heights
A bugle wails the long recall;
Derision stirs the deep abyss,
Heaven’s ominous silence over all.
Return, return, O eager Hope,
And face man’s latter fall.
Events, they make the dreamers quail;
Satan’s old age is strong and hale,
A disciplined captain, gray in skill,
And Raphael a white enthusiast still;
Dashed aims, at which Christ’s martyrs pale,
Shall Mammon’s slaves fulfill?
(_Dismantle the fort,
Cut down the fleet--
Battle no more shall be!
While the fields for fight in æons to come
Congeal beneath the sea._)
The terrors of truth and dart of death
To faith alike are vain;
Though comets, gone a thousand years,
Return again,
Patient she stands--she can no more--
And waits, nor heeds she waxes hoar.
(_At a stony gate,
A statue of stone,
Weed overgrown--
Long ’twill wait!_)
But God his former mind retains,
Confirms his old decree;
The generations are inured to pains,
And strong Necessity
Surges, and heaps Time’s strand with wrecks.
The People spread like a weedy grass,
The thing they will they bring to pass,
And prosper to the apoplex.
The rout it herds around the heart,
The ghost is yielded in the gloom;
Kings wag their heads--Now save thyself
Who wouldst rebuild the world in bloom.
(_Tide-mark
And top of the ages’ strike,
Verge where they called the world to come,
The last advance of life--
Ha ha, the rust on the Iron Dome!_)
Nay, but revere the hid event;
In the cloud a sword is girded on,
I mark a twinkling in the tent
Of Michael the warrior one.
Senior wisdom suits not now,
The light is on the youthful brow.
(_Ay, in caves the miner see:
His forehead bears a blinking light;
Darkness so he feebly braves--
A meagre wight!_)
But He who rules is old--is old;
Ah! faith is warm, but heaven with age is cold.
(_Ho ho, ho ho,
The cloistered doubt
Of olden times
Is blurted out!_)
The Ancient of Days forever is young,
Forever the scheme of Nature thrives;
I know a wind in purpose strong--
It spins _against_ the way it drives.
What if the gulfs their slimed foundations bare?
So deep must the stones be hurled
Whereon the throes of ages rear
The final empire and the happier world.
(_The poor old Past,
The Future’s slave,
She drudged through pain and crime
To bring about the blissful Prime,
Then--perished. There’s a grave!_)
Power unanointed may come--
Dominion (unsought by the free)
And the Iron Dome,
Stronger for stress and strain,
Fling her huge shadow athwart the main;
But the Founders’ dream shall flee.
Agee after age shall be
As age after age has been,
(From man’s changeless heart their way they win);
And death be busy with all who strive--
Death, with silent negative.
YEA, AND NAY--
EACH HATH HIS SAY;
BUT GOD HE KEEPS THE MIDDLE WAY.
NONE WAS BY
WHEN HE SPREAD THE SKY;
WISDOM IS VAIN, AND PROPHESY.
- title
- The Conflict of Convictions.