Timrod

As I read The Cotton Boll by Henry Timrod, a few things jumped out at me right away. One of the first things was his description of the senses, such as sight and sound. The second aspect of Timrod’s writing that I noticed, which goes hand in hand with the sensory descriptions, is his repetitive account of his surroundings. I find the first few stanzas to be very beautiful and full. He really gave me a first hand explanation of his natural surroundings, but it got very old half way through. He couldn’t simply speak of the winds or a place; he had to make it more convoluted than it needed to be. If this was done for rhyme or to meet the beat, then it was a must, but it took away from the internal meaning in my opinion.
Even though the writing started to become monotone, I tried to focus on his underlying tone and what he was trying to say. His persistent sensory vocabulary drew me in throughout the poem and I was able to draw some of his feelings out of them. He mentions sound and sight at least ten times throughout the poem. He literally uses the words sight and sound two or three times on one page. When mentioning sound he uses descriptive words such as “mystic”. When discussing sight he says, “the landscape broadens on my sight…to the remotest point of sight…” He also alludes to a veil and how it was lifted in order for him to see the big picture of the war and slavery. Although he uses both of these senses to address the slavery issue he appears seemingly unconcerned. He never really chose a side (North or South) through the poem. Relating this issue to a cotton boll and an ocean shell have double meanings and may even be too delicate to describe the situation. The cotton boll is brought up in a morose tone and seems almost condescending. Near the end of the poem he says, “Oh, help us, Lord! To roll the crimson flood back on its course, and, while our banners wing Northward, strike with us!” This sentence seems so propaganda like and eventually turned me off from the poem.