Contrasting Views on the Civil War

In contrasting George Moses Horton’s poems on the war and Henry Timrod’s view of the war it is evident that both men have views that differ in mood, tone, and subject of the war. Horton examines the way in which wars have always been described and predicts how the Civil War will be described and written about. He has knowledge of the manner in which many wars have been historically manipulated through literature and knows the stance and opinions of the war will be based off those works. His knowledge is not only directed towards the Civil War, but wars in general. Through images and irony he expresses his hidden ideas and feelings of the war. Henry Timrod’s ideas contrast to Horton’s ideas about the war mainly in the way he views the war with the patriotism and glory that Horton criticizes. Timrod aims to inspire hope within the people of the South, yet he fails to address or look into the perspective of those that have been victims of the South’s racism and cruelty. Horton’s poems provide another rich perspective into the war through the eyes of a Southern slave.
As a slave of the South Horton could not openly and freely express his views on the war so he does so through ironic images of the war itself. In his poem The Spectator of the Battle of Belmont he contrasts the view of the war between the spectators of the war and those who are actually participants of the war. In portraying the view of the war from the side of the spectators he describes the war with “beaming aspect, the sword and the shield” (4). He depicts that the spectators will continue to view the war as a “tragical tale” as “the battles of many foreign nation” (14-16). He contrasts this view to the image of the war through the eyes of a participant of the war who has been directly affected by the war. This participant has heard “the sound of destruction break(s) loud from the mortars...and blood break(s) from its vein like a stream from its fountain” (5-9). He has been disillusioned by the tales of the war and has experienced the pain and seen the destruction that war brings. Horton knows that viewing the war as a “tragical tale” creates the effect of war as a glorious heroic “tale” or imaginary event and doesn’t capture the reality or the seriousness of the situation.
In contrast Timrod’s view, which could have been inspired by his views before the war, portray the illustration of the war as a glorious event which Horton criticizes in his poem. In focusing on the nature and the beauty of the South Timrod creates an illusion of greatness and fails to capture the true essence of the war. In the opening of Timrod’s poem The Cotton Ball he is resting upon a pine tree embracing the landscape before him. He refers to images that invoke a sense of unity and closeness of the landscape and the South as a whole. He illustrates how the landscape “widens round me in one might field” and how the land is one “wherein all powers are met that bind a people’s heart” (39, 104). Such images convey the unity of the South not only among the people, but also among the landscape that encompasses these people. While these images do invoke a sense of unification, they fail to address the important aspects of the war such as the economic, political, and social implications that it will have. It is so ironic to see how two highly influential poets can have such contrasting views on the war.