Frank Stanford’s The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You Pt. 1
This is an outline for the reprinted edition of The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You.
Each semester I have taught Frank Stanford’s poetry, at least one student has made this remark, “I want to make a movie about this guy!” Hannah at University of Redlands swore to me that she would make the movie by the time she graduated. Enrique, a film studies major at Cal State Northridge, went as far as showing me a storyboard for his Stanford movie. Another student, named Debbie, made a short film about Stanford’s poem “Freedom, Revolt, and Love.” One semester, interestingly, a community college student and I wrote the renowned American documentary film director Brett Morgen about the idea of a Stanford bio. Morgen insightfully replied, “Why should this story be told as a film as opposed to a book?”
That book, a biography of Frank Stanford, is in the works. James McWilliams, a historian and writer based in Austin, TX, has been hard at work with a Stanford biography, which the University of Arkansas Press will publish.
For those students who really connected with Stanford’s poetry and wanted to read more, I often recommended his epic poem, The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You (Battlefield).
Battlefield stems from an earlier manuscript Stanford called Saint Francis and the Wolf. According to notations on papers found in Stanford’s archive, he started writing the poem when he was nine years old. Whether that is a fact or not remains to be proven; however, much of Frank Stanford’s life can be read in Battlefield.
That Stanford chose to write an epic poem says something about his intellectual ambition, considering the history of epic poetry from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the Iliad and the Odyssey, to Beowulf, the Song of Roland, the Book of Kings, or the Divine Comedy, all of which appear in Stanford’s American epic. His 15,000+ lined poem mixes his dream world with the reality of 1961, painting a unique and complicated picture of American history, Southern culture, and Black culture.
Note: Battlefield is rife with profane language and some violence. Stanford wrote the poem using several types of American English, including Black dialects. The N-word and other offensive words are used. The story comes to us through the eyes of a twelve year old white boy, Francis, who is accepted by the Black community wherever he goes. The story focuses on Francis, his cousin, and their Black friends. Racist characters in the story pay the price for their bigotry, losing their businesses, their lives, or both. Francis himself gets the tar whooped out of him for using of the N-word (Sylvester teaches Francis a lesson, and the book shows an interesting subversion of white authority between lines 4226–4263). From start to finish, Francis’s point of view about race appears to become more and more clear: he abhors inequality. On that note, the poem’s derogatory language applies to all races, ethnicities, and persuasions, not just one group. Though some readers may struggle with the language, I believe that Stanford supplies sufficient context for readers to understand the world he was writing about and the ways people really spoke during that time.
The following outline is meant to help you read Battlefield. In the past, students who got a copy of the book came to me with a common complaint — they couldn’t make heads or tails of the story. Like all epic poems, Battlefield can seem a morass at first, but some guide posts will help clarify the story. For those who want a more detailed description, notes on a line by line basis are linked at the end of the outline below. My notes and outline were inspired by the first Frank Stanford scholar who I met, the poet and professor Maj. Murray Shugars. A part of his Frank Stanford PhD dissertation showed up in Stanford’s archive at the Beinecke Library.
Use my notes however you want to use them. As mentioned earlier, this outline pertains to the reprinted edition.
Opening Sequence/Introduction of Themes pp. 1–12
World’s Smallest Man, The Freak Count Hugo pp. 12–17
Pantagruel/Midsouth Fair
“Freak’s Letter”: Floating Utopia pp. 18–25
(foreshadows Abraham’s Knife)
Charlie B. Takes Francis to the Black Section pp. 25–36
of Memphis
Lyric Dream Sequence pp. 36–40
Story of Mr. Rufus Abraham/Owner of pp. 40–44
Abraham’s Knife (a bend in the river)
Lyric Dream Sequence: Orphanage/ pp.44–47
Francis in Boat
Bobo and the Battle Royal with the Catfish/ pp. 47–63
White Dominance/Old Man and the Cat
Lyric Dream Sequence Beginning “ooooo… pp. 63–66
went the barge horn”/ Cybele Mistress
Francis Leaves School and Goes to pp. 66–71
Astronomer’s House for Dinner
Francis and the Neglected Wife pp. 71–76
Last Supper in Vernacular/ Populist Jesus pp. 76–78
Francis’s Sermon Drawing The Social pp. 78- 80
Battle Lines/ Classical Martial
Imagery (armor)/ Teacher Séance
Race and Class in Memphis pp. 80- 82
Dream Shift pp. 82- 83
Sylvester the Black Angel pp. 83- 109
Dream Shift/Dodging Dream Bullets pp. 109–116
/Wrestling with God
Duel of Girl and Boy and Francis Escapes pp. 116–126
With Her Body
Francis and Jimmy in Snow Lake pp. 126–163
Roundtree’s Story/Bartender at Country Club pp. 163–166
Orphanage and the Grandfather Clock/ pp. 166–168
Francis escapes
The Hindoo Boy’s Letter/Tale of How a Noble pp. 168–174
Race of Men was Born
Lyrical Transition pp. 174–176
Dark and the Sunday Baseball Game pp. 176–177
Francis Tells How Jimmy Got “six months”/ pp. 177–183
Poisoning the Rednecks and Their Dogs
Dark (sitting in the saddle with him) pp. 183–184
Clyde Miller’s Sunset Drive Inn/ Segregation/ pp. 184–214
Exploitation/ Revenge and Rebellion
Lyric Transition/ How Can I Tell You pp. 214–218
Shift to Drive Inn/Mexican Boarder War/ pp. 218–220
Sylvester/Gorilla vs. Guerilla
Bus to Mound Bayou to See the pp. 220–224
Hypnotist (Abednego)
Begin Story of Policeman and the Music Box pp. 224–225
Dream Shift pp. 225–229
Riding with Dark on Mule pp. 229–233
Concludes Story of Policeman and the pp. 233–235
Music Box/Shifting Dreams (time travel)
Freedom Ride and Vico pp. 235–298
Drive Inn pp. 298–299
Lyric Sequence pp. 299–333
Prelude to the Utopian Community on p.336–340
Abraham’s Knife/Last Time/Big Mamma
Jimmy and Francis Stay in Hotel/Eyeballing pp. 340–345
Keyholes
Snatch’s Truck Stop-Saloon for Coffee/ pp. 345–355
Sonny Liston 1930–1970 (aka “The Big Bear”
was born in Arkansas and became world
heavyweight champion boxer in 1962)
Anti-Vietnam War/ Old Man’s Story/ p. 355–369
Elvis in Memphis/Bill Willett Scene/
Lyrical Sequences
Utopian (Island) Abraham’s Knife pp. 369–377
Conclusion/Francis and Baby Gauge pp. 377–383
Aboard Luxury Liner Giotto, Touring for
Successful Film of Francis’s Stories
Related Links:
Frank Stanford’s The Battle Field Where The Moon Says I Love You Pt. 2
Frank Stanford: In His Own Words
Frank Stanford: In Leenus Orth’s Words
The Art Of Imitation In Poetry Between Pablo Neruda & Frank Stanford
Frank Stanford Chapbook Assignment
Conversation About The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You Pt. 1
Conversation About The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You Pt. 2
