"Words for the Hour": A New Anthology of American Civil War Poetry

Cover

   A NewAnthologyof AmericanCivil War Poetry Edited by Faith Barrett and Cristanne Miller “WORDS FOR THE HOUR” Barrett and Miller “ WORDS FOR THE HOUR ” Massachusetts “WORDS FOR THE HOUR” presents a readable and illuminating account of the Civil War, told through the words of poets North and South. From bathos to profound philosophical meditation and sorrow, the range of these poems illuminates the complexity of their era while also revealing the continuing power of this turning point in American history to speak to readers in the present day. This volume is indeed “new” among anthologies of Civil War poetry not only in its wide range of poems by popular, anonymous, and now canonical poets but also in its informational apparatus. A historical timeline listing major battles and events of the war begins the volume, and historical photographs or lithographs introduce each section of poems.The book also includes a substantial introduction, a glossary of important names and terminology relevant to understanding the poems, and biographical sketches for all the poets whose work is included.
  “An extremely interesting and well-conceived collection of Civil War poems. . . . I particularly like the way it combines popular poetry of the day with canonical poetry, so that—for the first time—students and readers may experience a broad spectrum of Civil War poetry without artificial distinctions between ‘high’ and ‘low.’”—Alice Fahs, author of The Imagined Civil War “This is the anthology that those wanting to teach nineteenth-century poetry of the Civil War have been waiting for.”—Paula Bennett, author of Poets in the Public Sphere
  Fa i t h Ba r r e t t is assistant professor of English at Lawrence University. Cr i stan n e M i l l e r is W. M. Keck Distinguished Professor of English at Pomona College. Cover design by Dennis Anderson Cover photo: A young woman with men from an Illinois battery at Chattanooga in 1865. Chicago Historical Society. University of Massachusetts Press Amherst & Boston www.umass.edu/umpress ...