- description
- # Aurora-Borealis.
## Overview
"Aurora-Borealis." is a segment of poetry extracted from the larger work, [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9). This segment spans lines 3380-3399 of its source file and is titled "Aurora-Borealis."
## Context
This poetic segment is part of [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9), a poetry collection that is itself part of the broader [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The text was extracted from the digital file [battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8). It follows the segment titled [The Muster:](arke:01KG8AJQP36B2PQT84YCW2QJPE) and precedes the segment titled [Verses Inscriptive and Memorial](arke:01KG8AJQNXW5HA3N50Z4HM02XY).
## Contents
The segment describes a figure emerging from a trance, characterized by a "clear calm look" that speaks of pain, purification, and repressed triumph. The imagery includes a "shivered yoke" at her feet and "Law on her brow and empire in her eyes," culminating in her standing on a crag with a lifted flag as a shadow flees.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:23.054Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- Aurora-Borealis.
- end_line
- 3399
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:35.910Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 3380
- text
- But from the trance she sudden broke--
The trance, or death into promoted life;
At her feet a shivered yoke,
And in her aspect turned to heaven
No trace of passion or of strife--
A clear calm look. It spake of pain,
But such as purifies from stain--
Sharp pangs that never come again--
And triumph repressed by knowledge meet,
Power dedicate, and hope grown wise,
And youth matured for age’s seat--
Law on her brow and empire in her eyes.
So she, with graver air and lifted flag;
While the shadow, chased by light,
Fled along the far-drawn height,
And left her on the crag.
- title
- Aurora-Borealis.