The Battle-Field
Artist: Edward Dalziel
1860
Wood-engraving, cut by the Dalziels
5½ x 4 inches
Bryant’s Poems, 261
Bryant’s poem would be better entitled ‘After the Battle,’ as it focuses on a country scene on the field post-conflict. Dalziel visualizes the lines, ‘Now all is calm, and fresh, and still/Alone the chirp of flitting bird/And talk of children …’ (260). However, the artist very much enhances the writer’s idyllic effects, adding a small event (the decking of the lamb) that is not in the poem, and adds interest by materializing the rural tone. Dalziel’s draughtsmanship is uneven: the children’s faces look like those of wooden puppets, but the modelling of the sheep and the natural details is highly accomplished. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]