- description
- # An uninscribed Monument on one of the Battle-fields of the Wilderness.
## Overview
This is a segment of text, specifically a poem titled "An uninscribed Monument on one of the Battle-fields of the Wilderness." It is part of a larger collection of poetry.
## Context
This poem is included in the collection "[Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9)" This collection was extracted from the file "[battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8)" and is part of the larger "[Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW)" collection. The poem follows "[On the Slain at Chickamauga.](arke:01KG8AJRAZDPZ7PFH18M5E34X8)" and precedes "[On Sherman’s Men who fell in the Assault of Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia.](arke:01KG8AJRAZXC4VGFJN2513XEDH)"
## Contents
The poem reflects on a monument situated on a Civil War battlefield, specifically one of the "Battle-fields of the Wilderness." The text suggests that the monument, though silent, bears witness to the intense conflict that occurred there. It contrasts the current solitude with the past violence, implying that the remnants of battle—"iron cones and spheres of death"—speak more profoundly than any inscription. The poem addresses the reader, urging them to contemplate the quiet aftermath and the significance of the historical site.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:24.401Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- An uninscribed Monument on one of the Battle-fields of the Wilderness.
- end_line
- 3559
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:35.911Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 3538
- text
- An uninscribed Monument
on one of the Battle-fields of the Wilderness.
Silence and Solitude may hint
(Whose home is in yon piny wood)
What I, though tableted, could never tell--
The din which here befell,
And striving of the multitude.
The iron cones and spheres of death
Set round me in their rust,
These, too, if just,
Shall speak with more than animated breath.
Thou who beholdest, if thy thought,
Not narrowed down to personal cheer,
Take in the import of the quiet here--
The after-quiet--the calm full fraught;
Thou too wilt silent stand--
Silent as I, and lonesome as the land.
- title
- An uninscribed Monument on one of the Battle-fields of the Wilderness.