RINGWOOD — Of the thousands upon thousands of books written about the Civil War, there are but a few that, instead of relying on battle maps, lists of dates, and casualty rolls to tell a black-and-white history, seek to illustrate the conflict’s sanguine horrors by peering through the eyes of those who fought — and fewer still that abandon flowery prose and adapt the terse, sheer style of poetry in order to do it.
PHOTO COURTESY OF S. THOMAS SUMMERS
Poet S. Thomas Summers will be reading excerpts of his
new book, 'Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War,' at
1 p.m. at the Ringwood Public Library on Oct. 20.
The book, published by Anaphora Literary Press and written from the perspective of a southern everyman named Hercules McGraw, uses poetry to follow this "uneducated, rural, pig-farmer kinda guy" through America’s greatest tragedy as he fights for the South only to learn that "the cause" was not quite what he thought it to be.
Summers, 43, teaches English literature at Wayne Hills High School and at Passaic County Community College, and said that his character’s motivation stems from a hope to one day have enough money to purchase a slave (which he considers the ultimate status symbol) in order to impress his girl, Martha Lane. Should slavery be abolished, he reasons, that will never happen.
But as so often happens, the horrors of war bring out both the best and worst in men — and although McGraw is himself an active participant in creating some of those horrors, he also witnesses the bravery of the former slaves who have put on the blue uniform to fight against their oppressors.
In the end, said Summers, he realizes that they are no different than he.
"He gains a huge respect for them because of what they’ve been through as a persecuted race, and he sees that they’ve fought as hard he has," he said.
The epiphany leads McGraw to lose interest in both Lane and the southern cause, and his metamorphosis is completed when, upon returning home, he helps a slave escape on the underground railroad. Although Summers acknowledges that at first glance, he appears to have little in common with his simple farmer, writing through McGraw’s eyes gave him a deep understanding of what the man might have gone through, especially as he explores the parts of history that "fall into the cracks, that the historians can’t see."
"As I wrote, I kind of became my character… in the back of my head I was bleeding, I was scared, I was crying, I was doing everything that he was," he said. "It’s why at readings, when I read certain poems I sometimes tear up because it’s become so personal to me."
There’s also the larger narrative, Summers said, in which McGraw could be any man, in any war, that gazes into the Medusa-like eye of combat and suffers the consequences of witnessing that which is "not for humans to see" — even the juxtaposition of "Hercules" and "McGraw," with its demigod lead followed by a routine Irish surname, reflects the God-like power of giving and taking life the common man possesses during battle.
"The things that these guys see and experience… it messes (soldiers) up, because they’re not supposed to see this, they’re not supposed to decide who lives and who dies," he said. "I thought that was meant for the gods."
But, Summers said, much of the writing process was not so dark, and he enjoyed experimenting with the unfamiliar southern dialect to create phrases that his character might actually have uttered.
"I liked the way they talked, I liked the metaphors they used, it was fun for me as someone who has grown up in the North, who doesn’t talk like that, to make that voice authentic was the fun part," he said.
He’s now in the process of writing a sister book, which will speak on the Civil War from the point of view of an educated northern English teacher who, although he is a pacifist, enlists due to a feeling of being obligated to protect his students, many of whom had signed up to fight. But that story may not have such an upbeat ending, the writer said, as the former pacifist discovers a darkness within him that he never knew existed and finds out that he is indeed quite good at killing. The projects are certainly keeping Summers, who has been writing poetry since college, busy; although his first works weren’t quite up to par, he joked, he has honed his craft over the past 20 years, and has since had works published in The Atlantic, Loch Raven Review, and Literary Bohemian. His interest in the Civil War has been more recent, however, and stems from his first reading of the famous novel-turned-movie "Cold Mountain." Initially, he said, he picked it up because its construction mirrors the Greek epic "The Odyssey," which he often teaches to high school students, but he was soon enveloped in the drama.
"I thought it would be interesting to read the book…but that reflection stirred my passion; it was no longer just dates and battles, it was people and blood and heartache and victory," he said. After a few visits the fields where the violent fights took place, there’s been no turning back.
"It’s been pretty much all I’ve written about since," he said.
Summers will be reading at 1 p.m. at the library, which is located at 30 Cannici Drive, along with poet David Vincenti, who will offer a "view of the life of astronomer Galileo Galilei." Vincenti’s poems have appeared in the Paterson Literary Review, the Edison Literary Review, and The Journal of New Jersey Poets, and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. For more information, call the library at 973-962-6256.
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