Talk:54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment/Archives/2017/June

Proposed removal of Lowell stanzas and Sgt. Simmons letter

I’d like to propose that the stanzas from Lowell’s “For the Union Dead” and the full-length quotation of Sgt. Simmons’s letter be deleted. First, extended quotations don’t really belong in an encyclopedic article. They should be referenced and perhaps briefly paraphrased. WP:QUOTE specifically states that the full text of primary sources should not be included. The sub-section WP:LONGQUOTE is highly relevant here with a number of pertinent guidelines. Over-use of quotes is problematic to encyclopedic articles. Quotes should instead be summarized using “plain, concise text.”

The Lowell quote has been the subject of edit wars on this page for many years. It’s a lightning rod which has generated a great deal of frustration and distracted editors from the task of improving this page. The original poem contains the n-word. Presently it’s been changed to “men.” It will no doubt be the subject of many edits in the future.

Excerpts of poems arguably make for the most problematic quotations as they are torn from the context of the overall work. That is certainly the case with Lowell’s poem. “For the Union Dead” is a bitterly ironic, nuanced poem--a complex observation on war, progress, and race relations in the 1960s. The Shaw memorial is merely used as a device. As is the old Boston Aquarium, the State House, and other landmarks. Grabbing two random stanzas from a complex poem does not do justice to his work or to this page. I can’t see that it serves any productive purpose here. And, in fact, it clearly has been detrimental.

The stanza was added many years ago by an unregistered user without any explanation as to what purpose it served--except noting that the Shaw monument was featured prominently. But out of context, it's highly problematic. I think some “plain, concise text” referencing the poem should do. Historical Perspective 2 (talk) 10:34, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

Hearing no objections, I'll make those changes. Historical Perspective 2 (talk) 09:42, 27 May 2017 (UTC)