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Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters. Spoon River Anthology. 1868-1950. Criminal lawyer by day Writer of poems, plays, and essays by night. Spoon River Anthology - 1915. Got the idea from Selected Epitaphs from the Greek Anthology

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Edgar Lee Masters

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  1. Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology

  2. 1868-1950 • Criminal lawyer by day • Writer of poems, plays, and essays by night

  3. Spoon River Anthology - 1915 • Got the idea from Selected Epitaphs from the Greek Anthology • His consists of 244 epitaphs of mythical characters buried in the mythical Spoon River Cemetery in rural southern Ill.

  4. The dead serve as the speakers of the poems. • They reveal the loneliness and isolation of those in the Midwest as well as secrets of their past. • These are in free verse.

  5. Winesburg, Ohio is often associated with Spoon River Anthology, another so called "revolt from the village" collection. These books depict the struggle for self-realization in a society that has lost contact with the democratic vision that once gave purpose and meaning to American lives. Thematic similarities exist between these works and the poetry of Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and other literary modernists.

  6. Richard BoneWHEN I first came to Spoon River I did not know whether what they told me Was true or false. They would bring me the epitaph And stand around the shop while I worked 5And say “He was so kind,” “He was wonderful,” “She was the sweetest woman,” “He was a consistent Christian.” And I chiseled for them whatever they wished, All in ignorance of its truth. But later, as I lived among the people here, 10I knew how near to the life Were the epitaphs that were ordered for them as they died. But still I chiseled whatever they paid me to chisel And made myself party to the false chronicles Of the stones, 15Even as the historian does who writesWithout knowing the truth, Or because he is influenced to hide it.

  7. George GrayI HAVE studied many times The marble which was chiseled for me— A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor. In truth it pictures not my destination But my life. 5For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment; Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid; Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances. Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life. And now I know that we must lift the sail 10And catch the winds of destiny Wherever they drive the boat. To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire— 15It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

  8. Griffy the CooperTHE COOPER should know about tubs. But I learned about life as well, And you who loiter around these graves Think you know life. You think your eye sweeps about a wide horizon, perhaps, 5In truth you are only looking around the interior of your tub. You cannot lift yourself to its rim And see the outer world of things, And at the same time see yourself. You are submerged in the tub of yourself— 10Taboos and rules and appearances, Are the staves of your tub. Break them and dispel the witchcraft Of thinking your tub is life! And that you know life! 15

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