Magnificent Decay: Melville and Ecology

295 Pages·2020·6.428 MB·English

by  Tom Nurmi

MAGNI FICENT
D E C AY
Melville
& Ecology
Tom Nurmi
Magnificent Decay
Under the Sign of Nature: Explorations in Ecocriticism
Serenella Iovino, Anthony Lioi, and Kate Rigby, Editors
Michael P. Branch, SueEllen Campbell, and John Tallmadge, Senior Advisory Editors
Magnificent Decay
MELVILLE AND ECOLOGY
Tom Nurmi
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PRESS
CHARLOTTESVILLE AND LONDON
University of Virginia Press
© 2020 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper
First published 2020
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Nurmi, Tom, author.
Title: Magnificent decay : Melville and ecology / Tom Nurmi.
Description: Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2020. | Series: Under the sign of
nature : explorations in ecocriticism | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020010301 (print) | LCCN 2020010302 (ebook) | ISBN 9780813945019
(hardcover ; acid- free paper) | ISBN 9780813945026 (paperback ; acid- free paper) |
ISBN 9780813945033 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Melville, Herman, 1819–1891—Criticism and interpretation. |
Nature in literature. | Human ecology in literature. | Ecocriticism.
Classification: LCC PS2388.N3 N87 2020 (print) | LCC PS2388.N3 (ebook) |
DDC 813/.3—dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020010301
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020010302
Cover art: Storm in the Mountains, Frederic Edwin Church, 1847. Oil on canvas. (Cleveland
Museum of Art)
For Carm

. . . how thrive the ferns
About the ruined house of prayer.
—Herman Melville, Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land (1866)

Contents
Preface xi
Introduction 1
1. Pearl: Mardi 47
2. Tendril: Pierre 84
3. Honeycomb: The Piazza Tales 145
4. Pebble: John Marr 199
Conclusion 225
Acknowledgments 231
Notes 233
Index 269