Edgar Lee Masters’ “Knowlt Hoheimer” features a 10-line poem (epitaph) with two movements. As usual, this epitaph reveals the character of the speaker, even as he tries to castigate others.
Introduction and Text of “Knowlt Hoheimer”
In Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, the short poem, or epitaph as Masters called them, “Knowlt Hoheimer” features a man who regrets among other things that he had the misfortune of dying in battle.
Knowlt Hoheimer
I was the first fruits of the battle of Missionary Ridge. When I felt the bullet enter my heart I wished I had staid at home and gone to jail For stealing the hogs of Curl Trenary, Instead of running away and joining the army. Rather a thousand times the country jail Than to lie under this marble figure with wings, And this granite pedestal Bearing the words, “Pro Patria.” What do they mean, anyway?
Commentary on “Knowlt Hoheimer”
According to Knowlt, he simply joined the army to avoid jail. He stole some livestock belonging to another man, and thus faced serving time for the crime.
First Movement: The Costs of Avoiding Jail
I was the first fruits of the battle of Missionary Ridge. When I felt the bullet enter my heart I wished I had staid at home and gone to jail For stealing the hogs of Curl Trenary, Instead of running away and joining the army.
Knowlt is claiming to have been the first casualty of “the battle of Missionary Ridge.” He died after “the bullet enter[ed his] heart.” Knowlt had signed up with the army and went off to war to avoid being incarcerated. After stealing some farm animals belonging to Curl Trenary, Knowlt simply ran off to join the army.
Because he is now dead, having become the first to die in the battle in which his infantry was engaged, he deeply regrets his choice. He discovers that serving some jail time would be preferable to dying in war.
Second Movement: Regretting a Decision
Rather a thousand times the country jail Than to lie under this marble figure with wings, And this granite pedestal Bearing the words, “Pro Patria.” What do they mean, anyway?
Knowlt now professes great regret over his deadly decision. He now figures that being jailed a thousand times would be better than dying and now lying under a slab of concrete with an inappropriate angelic symbol marking his grave. Knowlt supposes that he would still be living, had he served his time in jail. He imagines that serving a thousand jail terms would beat dying.
Apparently, Knowlt has been recognized as a war hero. He rests beneath a majestic monument which he describes: “this marble figure with wings, / And this granite pedestal / Bearing the words, “Pro Patria.” Knowlt reveals that he does not even comprehend that “Pro Patria” means “for country.” He asks rather sarcastically, “What do they mean, anyway?”
That he does not even know the Latin phrase suggests that he would not believe the sentiment even if he understood the words in translation. He likely believes along with the speaker in “Dulce et Decorum Est” that Horace’s old adage was a lie. Knowlt, by revealing what he does not know, further reveals his ignorant narcissism.
The epitaph “‘Butch’ Weldy” concludes the “Minerva” series. Butch declaims about his ordeal after a work related accident—with nary a nod to Minerva.
Introduction with Text of Poem, “‘Butch’ Weldy”
In Edgar Lee Masters’ “‘Butch’ Weldy” from the American classic Spoon River Anthology, the character of the man who impregnated Minerva Jones before he “got religion and steadied down” is revealed.
The reader will notice that Butch makes no reference to Minerva Jones, her father—Indignation Jones, or Doctor and Mrs. Meyers. Butch’s choice of narrative subject reveals him to be a rather self-indulgent individual. The fifth and final installment in the “Minerva Jones” saga, “‘Butch’ Weldy” concludes the “Minerva Jones” series.
Butch declaims about his ordeal after a work related accident—with nary a nod to Minerva, but it is easy to understand how his own misery would tend to blot out his dealings with the ilk of Minerva, et al.
“Butch” Weldy
After I got religion and steadied down They gave me a job in the canning works, And every morning I had to fill The tank in the yard with gasoline, That fed the blow-fires in the sheds To heat the soldering irons. And I mounted a rickety ladder to do it, Carrying buckets full of the stuff. One morning, as I stood there pouring, The air grew still and seemed to heave, And I shot up as the tank exploded, And down I came with both legs broken, And my eyes burned crisp as a couple of eggs. For someone left a blow-fire going, And something sucked the flame in the tank. The Circuit Judge said whoever did it Was a fellow-servant of mine, and so Old Rhodes’ son didn’t have to pay me. And I sat on the witness stand as blind As Jack the Fiddler, saying over and over, “I didn’t know him at all.”
Interpretive Reading
Commentary on “‘Butch’ Weldy”
‘Butch’ Weldy reveals himself to be a young man who has tried to rehabilitate himself from his earlier bad behavior. But he meets with a terrible work-related accident that leaves him blind and crippled.
His getting religion and steadying down likely improved his life in some regards. But then after accepting a job at the canning factory, things fell apart. He eventually shows himself to be a rather muddled-brained fellow as the tries to navigate a court trial.
First Movement: Weldy Get Religion and Takes a Job at the Canning Factory
After I got religion and steadied down They gave me a job in the canning works, And every morning I had to fill The tank in the yard with gasoline, That fed the blow-fires in the sheds To heat the soldering irons. And I mounted a rickety ladder to do it,
Presenting himself as a ne’er-do-well, Butch reports that he was able to find work after he “got religion and steadied down,” exposing his character as a gad-about, who likely indulged in all manner of adolescent chicanery. This estimation of Weldy’s character can be inferred from the fact that he impregnated Minerva Jones out- of-wedlock.
Likely, Butch led Minerva to believe he loved her and after carrying on with her for a time that suited his fancy, he dumped her. It remains unclear if Weldy ever knew about the baby, Minerva was carrying.
Equally likely, however, is that he left the village poetess after finding out about the pregnancy, which he would not have entertained a desire to support As Minerva said, Butch left her “to her fate with Doctor Meyers.”
Butch explains his job at the canning works, how he “mounted a rickety ladder” every morning “to fill / The tank in the yard with gasoline.” This fuel then fed the “blow-fires in the sheds / To heat the soldering irons.”
Second Movement: The Work Incident That Blinded and Crippled Butch
Carrying buckets full of the stuff. One morning, as I stood there pouring, The air grew still and seemed to heave, And I shot up as the tank exploded, And down I came with both legs broken, And my eyes burned crisp as a couple of eggs. For someone left a blow-fire going, And something sucked the flame in the tank.
Butch then states that on one work morning as he was filling the tank with gasoline that he had fetched up the ladder, he noticed that suddenly the air around him became still but “seemed to heave.”
All of a sudden, his body was hurled upward “as the tank exploded.” From this unfortunate event, Butch suffered two broken legs and his eyes “burned crisp as a couple of eggs,” thus, rendering him blind.
Third Movement: The Trial and the Failure to Be Compensated
For someone left a blow-fire going, And something sucked the flame in the tank. The Circuit Judge said whoever did it Was a fellow-servant of mine, and so Old Rhodes’ son didn’t have to pay me.
A fellow worker had allowed one of the fires to continue to burn. Butch explains that the air sucked the flame in the tank. Butch’s narrative then lurches quickly to the trial in which the Circuit Judge fails to award Weldy any damages.
Butch’s attempt to recover damages from the canning works for his injuries is thwarted by the court which found that because a fellow worker had been negligent and caused the accident, the owners of the canning works could not be held responsible.
Fourth Movement: Weldy Sues the Wrong Party
And I sat on the witness stand as blind As Jack the Fiddler, saying over and over, “I didn’t know him at all.”
Butch repeatedly protests that he did not know the fellow worker at all. This response reveals a lack of understanding; the court was not saying the Butch and the perpetrator were buddies; it was saying that the canning works’ owners were not responsible. It would therefore seem to follow that if Butch were to sue the fellow worker, he might have a case.
Butch remarks that he sat on the witness stand, “as blind / As Jack the Fiddler,” repeating his claim that he did not know the fellow employ who neglected to douse the fire in the shed. Jack the Fiddler is an allusion to “Blind Jack,” who appears later on in the Spoon River Anthology.
The Minerva Jones Sequence
Minerva Jones The “Minerva Jones” epitaph features one of the most depraved characters of the Spoon River talking dead. She is self-absorbed and haughty, lacking empathy and self-awareness, causing her to remain ignorant of her own discordant thoughts.
“Indignation” Jones In the second epitaph of the “Minerva” series, the poetess’ father, “Indignation” Jones, fulminates against Spoon River society.
Doctor Meyers The third epitaph in the Minerva Jones series features “Doctor Meyers,” who performed the abortion that led to the death of the unfortunate poetess.
Mrs. MeyersIn the fourth epitaph in this series,”Mrs. Meyers,” Dr. Meyers’ wife testifies that her husband, whom she calls “poor soul,” reaped what he sowed for his actions in life. The religious woman offers advice for a pleasant and peaceful life, reminding humanity to “Love God and keep his commandments.”
“Butch” WeldyThe fifth and final epitaph “‘Butch’ Weldy” concludes the “Minerva Jones” series. Butch declaims about his ordeal after a work related accident—with nary a nod to Minerva.
In “Mrs. Meyers,” Dr. Meyers’ wife testifies that her husband, whom she calls “poor soul,” reaped what he sowed for his actions in life. The religious woman offers advice for a pleasant and peaceful life, reminding humanity to “Love God and keep his commandments.”
Introduction with Text of “Mrs. Meyers”
Edgar Lee Masters’”Mrs. Meyers” from Spoon River Anthology is an American-Innovative curtal sonnet. The curtal sonnet features 11 lines with the traditional rime scheme of ABCABC DCBDC or ABCABC DBCDC. The final line is often a half line; an example is Father Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty.” Father Hopkins is credited with this form’s invention.
However, Masters’ curtal departs from the traditional form as it dispenses with the rime scheme and is sectioned into two quatrains and one tercet; thus, it is an innovative or American curtal sonnet.
“Mrs. Meyers” is the fourth poem (or epitaph as Masters labels these pieces) in the “Minerva Jones” sequence. In this epitaph, Dr. Meyers’ wife offers her view of the Minerva Jones situation, offering further information about that saga, especially her husband’s rôle in it.
In her simple statement featuring an unbiased view, Mrs. Meyers’ swears to the fact that her husband, whom she calls “Poor soul,” simply reaped his just rewards for his actions in life. She is focusing primarily on the abortion that killed Minerva as well as her unborn baby.
Mrs. Meyers
He protested all his life long The newspapers lied about him villainously; That he was not at fault for Minerva’s fall, But only tried to help her. Poor soul so sunk in sin he could not see That even trying to help her, as he called it, He had broken the law human and divine. Passers by, an ancient admonition to you: If your ways would be ways of pleasantness, And all your pathways peace, Love God and keep his commandments.
Interpretive Reading:
Commentary on “Mrs. Meyers”
Mrs. Meyers offers her opinion regarding her husband’s reputation and actions. Often other characters help fill out the character of those who have earlier given testimony to their own actions and worth. Mrs. Meyers additional information does add a snippet more to the saga beginning with Minerva and her abortion.
First Movement: A Drama of a Lifelong Protest
He protested all his life long The newspapers lied about him villainously; That he was not at fault for Minerva’s fall, But only tried to help her.
The first movement of “Mrs. Meyers” is a quatrain stanza that has Mrs. Meyers speaking directly about her husband. Without identifying him by name, the doctor’s wife simply begins by stating that her husband complained about his beleaguered lot for his entire life.
And the reader will remember that Doctor Meyers did just that; his little drama’s raison d’être is to expound on the grounds for his complaint.Mrs. Meyers reports more specifically about her husband’s protest; in his view, the newspapers reported falsely and viciously about the doctor.
Neither the doctor nor his wife offers any details regarding those reports. It is likely that Mrs. Meyers views the reports through a painful lens, while at the same time realizing that they were accurate. But her husband always contended that he was only trying to help the pregnant poetess, Minerva Jones, by aborting her baby.
Second Movement: The Crime of Murder, Breaking the Sixth Commandment
Poor soul so sunk in sin he could not see That even trying to help her, as he called it, He had broken the law human and divine.
After explaining Doctor Meyers’ position on his situation, Mrs. Meyers reveals her philosophical, religious view of his problem.She believes that he committed a crime by murdering the unborn child. And despite her sorrow and sympathy for him, she knows that those who commit such atrocities must be held accountable for breaking “the law human and divine.”
The doctor’s wife points out that her husband euphemistically referred to aborting Minerva’s baby as “trying to help her.”Mrs. Meyers calls her husband a “poor soul,” for he was obviously blind to his grave error.
He spent his lifetime trying to justify his complicity in committing the sin of murder, breaking the sixth Commandment, which in no way can be justified. The doctor remained blind to his sin, while his wife saw it clearly. The doctor was suffering from suicidal empathy.
Third Movement: The Tragedy of Poor Judgment
Passers by, an ancient admonition to you: If your ways would be ways of pleasantness, And all your pathways peace, Love God and keep his commandments.
Finally, Mrs. Meyers offers a piece of advice to the “passers by” who might become aware of her account. She tells them that if they would live a tranquil and peaceful life, they must “Love God and keep his commandments.”
Mrs. Meyers calls her advice “an ancient admonition,” which gives its import the weight of truth. She had lived with a man who was basically a good soul but who allowed his ordinarily good judgment to be averted in order to appease a foolish woman.
Mrs. Meyers has lived with and observed the sorrow that results from failing to follow the ancient law of karma, of sowing and reaping. The doctor’s wife offers her honest assessment of the situation; however, readers will likely hope that Doctor Meyers’ ultimate fate may be tempered by the fact that was simply trying to help a poor woman in her time of embarrassing trouble.
The Minerva Jones Sequence
Minerva Jones The “Minerva Jones” epitaph features one of the most depraved characters of the Spoon River talking dead. She is self-absorbed and haughty, lacking empathy and self-awareness, causing her to remain ignorant of her own discordant thoughts.
“Indignation” Jones In the second epitaph of the “Minerva” series, the poetess’ father, “Indignation” Jones, fulminates against Spoon River society.
Doctor Meyers The third epitaph in the Minerva Jones series features “Doctor Meyers,” who performed the abortion that led to the death of the unfortunate poetess.
Mrs. MeyersIn the fourth epitaph in this series,”Mrs. Meyers,” Dr. Meyers’ wife testifies that her husband, whom she calls “poor soul,” reaped what he sowed for his actions in life. The religious woman offers advice for a pleasant and peaceful life, reminding humanity to “Love God and keep his commandments.”
“Butch” WeldyThe fifth and final epitaph “‘Butch’ Weldy” concludes the “Minerva Jones” series. Butch declaims about his ordeal after a work related accident—with nary a nod to Minerva.
The third poem in the Minerva Jones series features “Doctor Meyers,” who performed the abortion that led to the death of the unfortunate poetess.
Introduction and Text of “Doctor Meyers”
Edgar Lee Masters’”Doctor Meyers” from Spoon River Anthology is an American-Innovative sonnet that innovatively and without rime begins with a couplet and then moves through the poem in four tercets. The doctor’s involvement in Minerva’s situation deepens the drama and helps to fill out the characterization of the participants in this sordid event.
Doctor Meyers
No other man, unless it was Doc Hill, Did more for people in this town than I. And all the weak, the halt, the improvident And those who could not pay flocked to me. I was good-hearted, easy Doctor Meyers. I was healthy, happy, in comfortable fortune, Blest with a congenial mate, my children raised, All wedded, doing well in the world. And then one night, Minerva, the poetess, Came to me in her trouble, crying. I tried to help her out—she died— They indicted me, the newspapers disgraced me, My wife perished of a broken heart. And pneumonia finished me.
Reading of “Doctor Meyers”
Commentary on “Doctor Meyers”
The third poem in the “Minerva Jones” series features “Doctor Meyers” the physician, who performed the illegal abortion that led to the death of the unfortunate poetess.
The Couplet: Braggart or Accurate and Evenhanded?
No other man, unless it was Doc Hill, Did more for people in this town than I.
The epitaph “Doctor Meyers” continues the “Minerva” series in the third installment of this mini-drama.
In the opening couplet, Doctor Meyers informs his listeners that he “did more for people of this town” than anyone else, with the possible exception of “Doc Hill.” A first impression taken from a cynical point of view might suppose that the character of Doctor Meyers resembles that of a braggart.
But because he reckons that another doctor might have done more for the people, the reader is likely to conclude that Doctor Meyers’ testimony is accurate and evenhanded.
The doctor does make it clear that he feels his service to his community had always been useful and valuable. He sets up his drama in a way that makes his down-fall even more tragic than it otherwise would have been.
First Tercet: A Sympathetic Practice
And all the weak, the halt, the improvident And those who could not pay flocked to me. I was good-hearted, easy Doctor Meyers.
Doctor Mayers then describes his medical practice as a sympathetic one that cared for “all the weak, the halt, the improvident.” And additionally, the sick ones “who could not pay” found Doctor Meyers helpful and accommodating as well.
The doctor says that he was “good-hearted, easy Doctor Meyers,” and he is proffering the thoughts of those he had served. Thus, he has established his stellar reputation as a fine, upstanding Spoon River citizen.
Again, a cynical view could be taken, but, in fact, he must have provided helpful services to those in need; otherwise, there is no explaining why patients “flocked to” him. Also, he must have provided valuable medical services to most of the citizens because he remained financially well off.
Second Tercet: A Successful Life
I was healthy, happy, in comfortable fortune, Blest with a congenial mate, my children raised, All wedded, doing well in the world.
The doctor then reports the quality of his life, describing it as “healthy, happy, in comfortable fortune.” He had been “blest with a congenial mate,” and their children were successful and all married.
Doctor Meyers had achieved the success for which most people strive. His successful, content life sets up the drama for his downfall. This description of his life reveals one who has done his duty without deceiving or undermining others in his zeal to thrive. Such a person deserves to live out his life in peace and tranquility—or so it would seem.
Third Tercet: Fate and the Unhealthy Turn
And then one night, Minerva, the poetess, Came to me in her trouble, crying. I tried to help her out—she died—
But then the doctor’s fate takes an unhealthy turn, when one fateful night the village “poetess” Minerva Jones came to him crying because she was pregnant and unmarried. Minerva was seeking to rid herself of her inconvenient condition.
The doctor tried to “help her out,” but then Minerva died. By “help her out,” the doctor is euphemistically referring to the fact that he broke the law by performing an illegal abortion, killing Minerva’s unborn baby.
In the first poem of the series, the reader had learned that Minerva had gone to Doctor Meyers after becoming impregnated with “Butch” Weldy’s child; Minerva reports that she died after treatment by Doctor Meyers.
Fourth Tercet: When Abortion Was Still Murder
They indicted me, the newspapers disgraced me, My wife perished of a broken heart. And pneumonia finished me.
Because abortion was illegal at that time, (Roe v Wade was decided in 1973, and these poems were written between 1900 and 1915), the doctor was arrested, indicted, and faced prison. Of course, his fate was reported in the newspapers, and the turn of events adversely affected his wife. He states that he died of “pneumonia.”
Mrs. Meyers’ Perspective
Without the next poem, “Mrs. Meyers,” number 4 in this series which offers testimony from the doctor’s wife, the reader might remain of the mind that Doctor Meyers did not deserve his fate. But Mrs. Meyers puts things in their proper perspective. Even so, the reader will continue to feel a certain amount of pity for this poor physician.
Everyone associated with macabre tale deserves pity, even Minerva, who sought the abortion. And unwanted pregnancy seldom leads to a congenial outcome. Mrs. Meyers’ contribution offers a useful bit of information, helping fill out some of the details about this series.
The Minerva Jones Sequence
Minerva Jones The “Minerva Jones” epitaph features one of the most depraved characters of the Spoon River talking dead. She is self-absorbed and haughty, lacking empathy and self-awareness, causing her to remain ignorant of her own discordant thoughts.
“Indignation” Jones In the second epitaph of the “Minerva” series, the poetess’ father, “Indignation” Jones, fulminates against Spoon River society.
Doctor Meyers The third epitaph in the Minerva Jones series features “Doctor Meyers,” who performed the abortion that led to the death of the unfortunate poetess.
Mrs. MeyersIn the fourth epitaph in this series,”Mrs. Meyers,” Dr. Meyers’ wife testifies that her husband, whom she calls “poor soul,” reaped what he sowed for his actions in life. The religious woman offers advice for a pleasant and peaceful life, reminding humanity to “Love God and keep his commandments.”
“Butch” WeldyThe fifth and final epitaph “‘Butch’ Weldy” concludes the “Minerva Jones” series. Butch declaims about his ordeal after a work related accident—with nary a nod to Minerva.
In the second poem/epigraph of the “Minerva” series, the poetess’ father, “Indignation” Jones, fulminates against Spoon River society.
Introduction with Text of “‘Indignation’ Jones”
Edgar Lee Masters’ “‘Indignation’ Jones” from Spoon River Anthology gives voice to the father of “Minerva Jones,” the village “poetess. This father and daughter share two common character flaws: their arrogance of a mightily, unearned self-worth and their vice of laying the blame for their own erroneous behavior on others. “Indignation” Jones’ blast of a full-throated denouncement of Spoon River society rings as hollow as Minerva’s, even as it is, perhaps, louder.
“Indignation” Jones
You would not believe, would you, That I came from good Welsh stock? That I was purer blooded than the white trash here? And of more direct lineage than the New Englanders And Virginians of Spoon River? You would not believe that I had been to school And read some books. You saw me only as a run-down man, With matted hair and beard And ragged clothes. Sometimes a man’s life turns into a cancer From being bruised and continually bruised, And swells into a purplish mass, Like growths on stalks of corn. Here was I, a carpenter, mired in a bog of life Into which I walked, thinking it was a meadow, With a slattern for a wife, and poor Minerva, my daughter, Whom you tormented and drove to death. So I crept, crept, like a snail through the days Of my life. No more you hear my footsteps in the morning, Resounding on the hollow sidewalk, Going to the grocery store for a little corn meal And a nickel’s worth of bacon.
Interpretive Reading:
Commentary on “Indignation” Jones
In the second poem of the “Minerva” series, the poetess’ father, “Indignation” Jones, offers his indignant rant against Spoon River society.
First Movement: An Indignant Man
You would not believe, would you, That I came from good Welsh stock? That I was purer blooded than the white trash here? And of more direct lineage than the New Englanders And Virginians of Spoon River?
“Indignation” Jones was apparently so bombastic as to carry the moniker “Indignation.” Clearly, he deems himself superior to the other Spoon River residents as he fashions his claims in question form that reveal that he came from “good Welsh stock” and that his blood was pure—not like the “white trash” in Spoon River.
Additionally, he pronounces himself and his stock’s lineage “more direct” than those from New England and Virginia that now reside in Spoon River. Jones is unlike the riffraff of the town; he asserts that his bloodline is untainted by southern Europeans or other races.
Second Movement: Unrecognized Erudition
You would not believe that I had been to school And read some books. You saw me only as a run-down man, With matted hair and beard And ragged clothes.
Jones then claims that he has schooling and has book-learning; it was observed in his daughter’s epitaph that she too had some book-learning. But Jones is now taunting the town of Spoon River by accusing it of not believing that he had such erudition.
Jones accuses the town of judging him by his outward appearance; all they saw was a disheveled man with unkempt “hair and beard,” wearing tattered clothing. Apparently, no one ever engaged in conversation with Jones, if his report can be given credence.
Third Movement: Unmasking Self-Pity
Sometimes a man’s life turns into a cancer From being bruised and continually bruised, And swells into a purplish mass, Like growths on stalks of corn.
Philosophically, Jones surmises that sometimes men’s lives become ill-fated and diseased, as bad as “a cancer.” Some men become bruised and continue to experience being bruised. Because of the bruising, those lives turn into a swollen “purplish mass.” They appear as nasty as the cancerous growths on cornstalks.
Likening his life to a swollen, purplish mass on a corn stalk reveals Indignation’s own penchant for poetry. And clearly it unmasks his own self-pity that along with the poetry he has passed on to his daughter Minerva, the village poetess.
Fourth Movement: A Carpenter, and Yet
Here was I, a carpenter, mired in a bog of life Into which I walked, thinking it was a meadow, With a slattern for a wife, and poor Minerva, my daughter, Whom you tormented and drove to death. So I crept, crept, like a snail through the days
The irony of “Indignation” Jones’ situation is enhanced as he reveals that he had been “a carpenter” by trade. But he has nothing more to say about his profession and moves quickly on to asserting his desperation at being mired down in a swamp-like condition his whole life-long.
Jones had innocently entered this swamp, mistaking it for a lovely pasture. He never tells his audience why he started out so optimistically, or exactly how or when he changed into the grump he now clearly is. He laments that his wife turned out to be “a slattern,” and his “poor Minerva” was “tormented and [driven] to death” by this unfeeling town.
Jones offers no clear reason for any down turn of luck: was he a successful carpenter? why did he marry a slattern in the first place? was he aware that Minerva underwent an abortion, which, in fact, caused her death?
Answers to these questions obviously would reveal that Jones is the actual cause of his own suffering, and like many of the talking dead here, who constantly place the blame on others for this bad luck, Jones is doing the same.
Fifth Movement: Depressed and Dejected
So I crept, crept, like a snail through the days Of my life. No more you hear my footsteps in the morning, Resounding on the hollow sidewalk, Going to the grocery store for a little corn meal And a nickel’s worth of bacon.
Living depressed and dejected, mired in a nasty swamp-like existence, Jones moved “like a snail” through his days. Being stuck in a swamp and having a miserable existence accounts for his life seeming to move so slowly.
But now he can announce that the riffraff can no longer hear his traipsing to the store in the morning to buy what little he could afford, only a “little corn meal” and a few cents’ worth of “bacon. Consumed by an arrogant self-pity, “Indignation” Jones does not realize the vacuousness of his protestations of poverty.
The Minerva Jones Sequence
Minerva Jones The “Minerva Jones” epitaph features one of the most depraved characters of the Spoon River talking dead. She is self-absorbed and haughty, lacking empathy and self-awareness, causing her to remain ignorant of her own discordant thoughts.
“Indignation” Jones In the second epitaph of the “Minerva” series, the poetess’ father, “Indignation” Jones, fulminates against Spoon River society.
Doctor Meyers The third epitaph in the Minerva Jones series features “Doctor Meyers,” who performed the abortion that led to the death of the unfortunate poetess.
Mrs. MeyersIn the fourth epitaph in this series,”Mrs. Meyers,” Dr. Meyers’ wife testifies that her husband, whom she calls “poor soul,” reaped what he sowed for his actions in life. The religious woman offers advice for a pleasant and peaceful life, reminding humanity to “Love God and keep his commandments.”
“Butch” WeldyThe fifth and final epitaph “‘Butch’ Weldy” concludes the “Minerva Jones” series. Butch declaims about his ordeal after a work related accident—with nary a nod to Minerva.
The “Minerva Jones” epitaph features one of the most depraved characters of the Spoon River talking dead. She is self-absorbed and haughty, lacking empathy and self-awareness, causing her to remain ignorant of her own discordant thoughts.
Introduction with Text of “Minerva Jones”
This epitaph “Minerva Jones” is the first in a series of five interrelated epitaphs: “‘Indignation’ Jones,” “Doctor Meyers,” “Mrs. Meyers,” and “‘Butch’ Weldy.” Edgar Lee Masters’ “Minerva Jones” from his American classic, Spoon River Anthology, dramatizes the report of a dense, young woman, who died after undergoing an abortion.
The issue of forced intercourse drives much of the discussion by casual readers in the interpretation of this epitaph. Minerva does not state directly that Butch Weldy forced himself upon her.
Instead, she implies that the two were engaged in a relationship prior to her becoming pregnant with Weldy’s child. The issue of rape becomes a tool for rehabilitating Minerva’s character and making her abortion seem less abhorrent. It needs to be remembered that abortion was illegal during this time period of American history.
Interestingly, the information revealed by the other characters in his series does not clarify Minerva’s motives. The character most closely involved with Minerva’s situation is Butch Weldy, and he does not even mention her in his harrowing tale.
Mrs. Meyers remarks about her husband Doctor Meyers, who performed Minerva’s abortion procedure, “he was not at fault for Minerva’s fall.” Mrs. Mayers’ statement indicates that Minerva was, in fact, less than the victim she professes. It was Minerva’s “fall” even if others were intimately or tangentially involved.
Minerva Jones
I am Minerva, the village poetess, Hooted at, jeered at by the Yahoos of the street For my heavy body, cock-eye, and rolling walk, And all the more when “Butch” Weldy Captured me after a brutal hunt. He left me to my fate with Doctor Meyers; And I sank into death, growing numb from the feet up, Like one stepping deeper and deeper into a stream of ice. Will some one go to the village newspaper, And gather into a book the verses I wrote?— I thirsted so for love! I hungered so for life!
Commentary on “Minerva Jones”
In this epitaph, Minerva Jones, professing herself to be “the village poetess,” presents herself as a victim of the hooting mobs of the town. But worse for her is that she is also a victim, left alone and pregnant by another Spoon River character “Butch” Weldy. Still worse is that she finally loses her life after being victimized by a medical procedure performed by another Spoon River character Doctor Meyers.
First Movement: Acquainted with Classic Works
I am Minerva, the village poetess, Hooted at, jeered at by the Yahoos of the street For my heavy body, cock-eye, and rolling walk, And all the more when “Butch” Weldy Captured me after a brutal hunt.
Minerva proudly proclaims herself as the poet of Spoon River. But then she complains that she was jeered at by the townspeople. Likening the boorish individuals of the village to the Swiftian characters “the Yahoos” in Gulliver’s Travels, Minerva demonstrates that she is, in fact, acquainted with classic literary works.
Such knowledge allows her to deem herself above her fellow citizens of Spoon River, similar to her father “Indignation” Jones. These “Yahoos” taunted poor Minerva because of her huge body, crooked eyes, and abnormal gait. And these characteristics were only exacerbated by her pregnancy.
Minerva then describes her relationship with “Butch” Weldy as a “brutal hunt” after which he “captured” her. This description indicates that she is attempting to portray herself as a victim, in order to excuse her own deeds: he hunted her, he captured her. As a victim, she considers her own deeds not under her control.
Thus in her own mind, Minerva remains the innocent victim of the brutal man “Butch” Weldy. However, Minerva does not state specifically that Butch forced himself upon her, although she does attempt to imply as much. Those implications demonstrate that she is now excusing her own behavior—a typical response of many of the Spoon River residents to their own flaws.
Second Movement: Abandoned to Her Fate
He left me to my fate with Doctor Meyers; And I sank into death, growing numb from the feet up, Like one stepping deeper and deeper into a stream of ice.
Minerva then states that Butch “left me to my fate with Doctor Meyers.” By stating that he “left” her, she is implying that they were, in fact, a couple. It is unlikely that a woman who has been brutally raped would lament being “left” by her rapist.
After being abandoned by her baby’s father, Minerva attempts to solve her problem pregnancy by seeking out a doctor who is willing to illegally abort her baby. And sadly the procedure performed by Doctor Meyers results in her death.
Third Movement: No Thought of the New Life
Will some one go to the village newspaper, And gather into a book the verses I wrote?—
With no thought given to the baby’s death, Minerva’s attention turns to her “verses” which had been published in the “village newspaper.” She then suggests that some citizen of the town visit the newspaper office to collect her verses and publish them in a book.
The selfishness demonstrated by this request should alert readers to the depravity of Minerva’s character. She gives not a single thought to the baby’s life she has snuffed out. Instead, first decrying her own death, which is certainly understandable, but then her second thought of asking someone to collect and publish her poetry for her shows her heartless, audacious selfishness.
Fourth Movement: The Epitome of Irony
I thirsted so for love! I hungered so for life!
Minerva’s final flourish reveals the epitome of irony: she “thirsted so for love!” Might she not have had much love to give and receive from the child she aborted? She “hungered so for life!” Not the life that was growing inside her, however.
Minerva reveals herself to be one of the most disturbed and duplicitous characters of Spoon River. After losing her life, Minerva is now asking for someone to collect her verses into a book to demonstrate that what happened to her was a great tragedy because she “thirsted so for love!” and “hungered so for life!”
Rehabilitating Minerva Jones’ Character
In the epitaph, “Minerva Jones,” the issue of forced intercourse drives much of the discussion of the interpretation of this poem. Minerva does not state directly that Butch attacked her for sex, but rather she implies that the two were engaged in a relationship prior to her becoming pregnant with Weldy’s child.
By insisting that she was brutally attacked and forcibly coerced, some readers attempt to rehabilitate Minerva’s reputation; according to their logic, if she were attacked and forced, then she would be a faultless victim, and thus her ending her pregnancy would be more easily justified.
Even legislation that seeks to end or limit abortion often allows for the procedure in cases of incest and rape. So it is important to those who wish to support easy access to abortion procedures that the fictional character Minerva Jones remain a victim entitled to the procedure because she was attacked and forced to experience sexual intercourse.
But if Minerva and Butch were both willing lovers until the pregnancy ended the relationship, then Minerva’s choosing to abort the “love child” becomes more likely to bring disgrace upon her. Suffering the inconvenience of pregnancy cannot compare with suffering the victimhood of a forcible attack.
Finally, Minerva’s exclamatory insistence that she “thirsted so for love!” and “hungered so for life!” ring ironically hollow: she aborted the one individual who could have given her love through the child’s very life.
Whether she was attacked and forced or was the willing participant in her relationship with Butch Weldy, she could have had a child to love and nurture. But her final words demonstrate that she cared more about her published verse than she did for the life that she had carried. Such depravity and selfishness cannot be rehabilitated, despite the attempts by pro-abortionists.
The Minerva Jones Sequence
Minerva Jones The “Minerva Jones” epitaph features one of the most depraved characters of the Spoon River talking dead. She is self-absorbed and haughty, lacking empathy and self-awareness, causing her to remain ignorant of her own discordant thoughts.
“Indignation” Jones In the second epitaph of the “Minerva” series, the poetess’ father, “Indignation” Jones, fulminates against Spoon River society.
Doctor Meyers The third epitaph in the Minerva Jones series features “Doctor Meyers,” who performed the abortion that led to the death of the unfortunate poetess.
Mrs. MeyersIn the fourth epitaph in this series,”Mrs. Meyers,” Dr. Meyers’ wife testifies that her husband, whom she calls “poor soul,” reaped what he sowed for his actions in life. The religious woman offers advice for a pleasant and peaceful life, reminding humanity to “Love God and keep his commandments.”
“Butch” WeldyThe fifth and final epitaph “‘Butch’ Weldy” concludes the “Minerva Jones” series. Butch declaims about his ordeal after a work related accident—with nary a nod to Minerva.
In the epitaph titled “Benjamin Fraser” from Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, the serial rapist/murderer is dramatizing his unsavory character.
Introduction and Text of “Benjamin Fraser”
Edgar Lee Masters has explained that “The Spooniad” is a mock heroic after Alexander Pope’s “The Dunciad.” The Spooniad offers commentary on each of the Spoon River speakers who hold forth in Spoon River Anthology.
From “The Spooniad” the reader learns that “Benjamin Fraser” was the “son of Benjamin Pantier / By Daisy Fraser,” which resulted in a lethal combination: the Pantiers’ dysfunctional relationship motivated Benjamin Pantier’s bedding the prostitute, Daisy Fraser, who gave birth to the criminally insane Benjamin Fraser. (See the Pantier sequence beginning with “Benjamin Pantier” and “Mrs. Benjamin Pantier.” )
Benjamin Fraser
Their spirits beat upon mine Like the wings of a thousand butterflies. I closed my eyes and felt their spirits vibrating. I closed my eyes, yet I knew when their lashes Fringed their cheeks from downcast eyes, And when they turned their heads; And when their garments clung to them, Or fell from them, in exquisite draperies. Their spirits watched my ecstasy With wide looks at starry unconcern. Their spirits looked upon my torture; They drank it as it were the water of life; With reddened cheeks, brightened eyes The rising flame of my soul made their spirits gilt, Like the wings of a butterfly drifting suddenly into sunlight. And they cried to me for life, life, life. But in taking life for myself, In seizing and crushing their souls, As a child crushes grapes and drinks From its palms the purple juice, I came to this wingless void, Where neither red, nor gold, nor wine, Nor the rhythm of life is known.
Interpretive Reading of Benjamin Fraser
Commentary on “Benjamin Fraser”
The epitaph“Benjamin Fraser” from Masters’ Spoon River Anthology allows the serial rapist/murderer to dramatize his unsavory character.
First Movement: Twisted Imagination
Their spirits beat upon mine Like the wings of a thousand butterflies. I closed my eyes and felt their spirits vibrating. I closed my eyes, yet I knew when their lashes Fringed their cheeks from downcast eyes, And when they turned their heads; And when their garments clung to them, Or fell from them, in exquisite draperies.
Benjamin Fraser reports that as he murdered and raped his victims their spirits were like butterflies. Fraser enjoyed the acts of rape and murder intensely and considered the struggle for life of the victims as a play of souls.
Fraser’s victims’ souls leaving their bodies made the insane criminal think of them as the “wings of a thousand butterflies.” He reports that he “closed his eyes and felt their spirits vibrating.”
And even with closed eyes, he knew they were frantically flailing about as “their lashes / Fringed their cheeks from downcast eyes.” As their heads thrashed from side to side, he could sense that their clothes sometimes “clung to them” and at other times “fell from them, in exquisite draperies.” In Fraser’s twisted imagination, his act becomes decorated in finery, instead of human despair and blood.
Second Movement: Appalling Acts
Their spirits looked upon my torture; They drank it as it were the water of life; With reddened cheeks, brightened eyes The rising flame of my soul made their spirits gilt, Like the wings of a butterfly drifting suddenly into sunlight. And they cried to me for life, life, life.
The souls of these women “watched my ecstasy”; he imagines that his victims can discern the joy this perverted individual is experiencing as he rapes and kills them. He lessens their agony in his own mind by calling their looks “starry unconcern.” As he admits to torturing them, he converts their response to drinking “the water of life.”
Fraser describes the face of his victim as he squeezes the life out of her: she has “reddened cheeks, brightened eyes”—those eyes would be filled with terror, but he perceives a different image; he visualizes, “The rising flame of my soul made their spirits gilt.” His appalling act causes their souls to look all golden and again reminds him of butterflies “drifting suddenly into the sunlight.” All the while, they are pleading “to me for life, life, life.”
Third Movement: A Loathsome Criminal
But in taking life for myself, In seizing and crushing their souls, As a child crushes grapes and drinks From its palms the purple juice, I came to this wingless void, Where neither red, nor gold, nor wine, Nor the rhythm of life is known.
Fraser becomes very vivid as he describes his act of strangulation; he asserts that he crushes their souls—he seizes and crushes them, likening his despicable act to a child smashing grapes to drink the fruit juice from the palm of his hand.
The rapist/murderer cannot bring himself to confess that he is, in fact, squeezing the life out a human being’s physical body. He does not accept his victim as a human being with personhood. To him they are just disembodied “spirits” that are ripe for his taking, seizing, and crushing.
Benjamin Fraser’s final admission that through taking these lives, he has arrived at his present destination that he describes as a “wingless void,” a place where “neither red, nor gold, nor wine, / Nor the rhythm of life is known,” and he remains as detached as his conscience remained as he committed his loathsome crimes.
In Edgar Lee Masters’ epitaph “Daisy Fraser,” the villainous character of “Daisy Fraser” is revealed as she tries to destroy the reputations of other residents of Spoon River.
Introduction and Text of “Daisy Fraser”
The character “Daisy Fraser” from Edgar Lee Masters’ American classic work Spoon River Anthology reports the immoral and illegal acts of her fellow Spoon River citizens solely for the purpose of rehabilitating her own reputation for villainy. Readers will note her scheme of employing gossipy questions to unleash her venom.
Daisy Fraser
Did you ever hear of Editor Whedon Giving to the public treasury any of the money he received For supporting candidates for office? Or for writing up the canning factory To get people to invest? Or for suppressing the facts about the bank, When it was rotten and ready to break? Did you ever hear of the Circuit Judge Helping anyone except the “Q” railroad, Or the bankers? Or did Rev. Peet or Rev. Sibley Give any part of their salary, earned by keeping still, Or speaking out as the leaders wished them to do, To the building of the water works? But I—Daisy Fraser who always passed Along the streets through rows of nods and smiles, And coughs and words such as “there she goes,” Never was taken before Justice Arnett Without contributing ten dollars and costs To the school fund of Spoon River!
Commentary on “Daisy Fraser”
Likely a prostitute, Daisy Fraser’s nasty character comes to light as she trashes the reputations of other residents of Spoon River.
First Movement: Political Improprieties
Did you ever hear of Editor Whedon Giving to the public treasury any of the money he received For supporting candidates for office?
The speaker begins with a question that implicates “Editor Whedon” in political improprieties, that is, taking money for “supporting candidates for office.” But the speaker wants to know if the editor ever gave that money to the “public treasury.”
Of course, her rhetorical question is implying that he, in fact, did not. And she continues her questioning filled with further implications of political shenanigans. The fact that she is choosing easy targets should alert the reader early on regarding what is happening in Daisy’s mind.
Second Movement: Kickbacks
Or for writing up the canning factory To get people to invest? Or for suppressing the facts about the bank, When it was rotten and ready to break?
In the second movement, Daisy continues her rhetorical queries, wondering if the illegal funds from the canning factory were given to the public treasury. Again, she is suggesting that the money was used by the editor for lining his own pocket. The editor also received kickbacks for hiding the financial condition of the bank, when it was on the verge of folding.
The editor of the newspaper should have been revealing these unsavory facts about these institutions, but instead, he took money and kept quiet, if the reader believes as Daisy does. Daisy wants to demonstrate that she is decrying that fact that freedom of the press can be abused.
Third Movement: A Judge on the Take
Did you ever hear of the Circuit Judge Helping anyone except the “Q” railroad, Or the bankers? Or did Rev. Peet or Rev. Sibley Give any part of their salary, earned by keeping still, Or speaking out as the leaders wished them to do, To the building of the water works?
The third movement contains two movements that are blended. The first part features the rhetorical question, asking if her listeners ever knew of the “Circuit Judge” giving aid to ordinary citizens instead of the “Q” railroad and bankers. Daisy now focuses on a judicial officer who blinks when influential parties commit illegal acts.
The accusation again includes the implication that like the editor, the judge is also on the take. But then she immediately focuses on the religious establishment by again questioning whether the reverends Peet and Sibley had ever contributed to the public works, that is, “water works,” any of the money they received by keeping quiet about the graft.
Not only was the press corrupt but the legal and religious institutions were rife with corruption as well, and of course with a press acquiescing instead of revealing the face of that corruption, the corruption is likely not only to continue but to spread.
Fourth Movement: Unreliable Witness
But I—Daisy Fraser who always passed Along the streets through rows of nods and smiles, And coughs and words such as “there she goes,” Never was taken before Justice Arnett Without contributing ten dollars and costs To the school fund of Spoon River!
In the final movement, all of Daisy’s implied accusations take a tumble. When Daisy Fraser appeared before Justice Arnett, she always had to pay up, “contributing ten dollars and costs / To the school fund of Spoon River!”
Daisy reveals, if only by implication, her own misdeeds. She bristled under the “nods and smiles” and “coughs and words such as ‘there she goes’.” She would observe people’s reaction to her as she walked down the streets, and she keenly resented them for those responses.
So she attempts to make herself seem better by blackening the reputations of others; therefore, whether all of that graft took place or not, the reader does not know, because Daisy has proven herself an unreliable witness.
Trainor, the Druggist, offers an additional perspective on the Pantier marriage.
Introduction and Text of “Trainor, the Druggist”
Edgar Lee Masters’ “Trainor, the Druggist” from Spoon River Anthology offers a final installment covering the pitiful story of the Pantiers: Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier and their son, Reuben.
Trainor, the chemist/druggist, dramatizes his take on the Pantiers’ marriage as he philosophizes about how chemicals and personalities may combine to produce results unlike either of the components.
Trainor, the Druggist
Only the chemist can tell, and not always the chemist, What will result from compounding Fluids or solids. And who can tell How men and women will interact On each other, or what children will result? There were Benjamin Pantier and his wife, Good in themselves, but evil toward each other: He oxygen, she hydrogen, Their son, a devastating fire. I Trainor, the druggist, a mixer of chemicals, Killed while making an experiment, Lived unwedded.
Interpretive Reading of “Trainor the Druggist”
Commentary on “Trainor, the Druggist”
Edgar Lee Masters just could not let go of the Pantiers; in “Trainor, the Druggist,” yet another and final installment focusing on the couple is offered.
First Movement: Begins by Contradicting Himself
Only the chemist can tell, and not always the chemist, What will result from compounding Fluids or solids.
Trainor begins by remarking and somewhat contradicting himself about what a chemist can know. He first states that “only” a chemist can know the results of combining certain substances, but he quickly adds that not even a chemist can “always” know the result of “compounding / Fluids and solids.”
By using the substances “fluids and solids,” Trainor avoids sounding overly esoteric and confusing in his statement, although later he settles on the use of “oxygen” and “hydrogen” to express the natures of the Pantiers.
Second Movement: Who? Indeed!
And who can tell How men and women will interact On each other, or what children will result?
Trainor then asks a rhetorical question, wondering who can ever predict how a certain man and a certain woman might react to their relationship. He also wonders, “what children will result?”
Of course, no one can know how any given couple will eventually grow in a relationship, and the possibilities are endless, as are the possibilities of the kinds of children that might spring from any given relationship. The chemist can know how certain chemicals will react with each, but even the chemist will have to admit that many combinations have yet to be tried.
Third Movement: The Pantiers
There were Benjamin Pantier and his wife, Good in themselves, but evil toward each other: He oxygen, she hydrogen, Their son, a devastating fire.
In the third movement, Trainor focuses on the Pantiers, concluding that each was “good in themselves.” But when they were bound in a relationship, they were “evil toward each other.”
Trainor then likens Benjamin to “oxygen,” while Mrs. Benjamin was like “hydrogen.” But the combination was, unfortunately, not in a useful proportion that would result, for example, in water; it was some combination that produces “fire.” Trainor says, “Their son, a devastating fire.”
Fourth Movement: Trainor, Somewhat Ditzy
I Trainor, the druggist, a mixer of chemicals, Killed while making an experiment, Lived unwedded.
In the final movement, the reader learns that Trainor was killed while “making an experiment.” As a “mixer of chemicals,” Trainor turns out to be incompetent, but he reports that he “lived unwedded,” which, to Trainor’s way of thinking, gives him at least a measure of pride of achievement.
Of course, the reader will remember that Reuben Pantier turned his life around and was able to extinguish the “devastating fire” in himself—an eventuality that also underscores the incompetence of the druggist.
The Pantier Sequence
The five epigraphs that comprise the “Pantier Sequence”:
Benjamin Pantier A husband who appears to be weakling allowing himself to be cowed by his wife, an arrogant bully.
Mrs. Benjamin Pantier Unbridled arrogance, overweening vanity along with cowardly weakness have combined to bring about the destruction of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier.
Reuben Pantier Reuben Pantier’s colorful character helps dramatize the power of spiritual love for healing the mind, heart, and soul, even through the distance of miles and decades. Reuben is the son of the dysfunctional couple Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier.
Emily Sparks The epitaph is the fourth entry in the sequence of five epitaphs featuring a dysfunctional couple, their son, and the latter’s influential mentor.
Trainor, the Druggist This epitaph offers a final installment covering the pitiful story of the Pantiers: Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier and their son Reuben.
Edgar Lee Masters’ “Reuben Pantier” and “Emily Sparks”
Reuben Pantier’s colorful character helps dramatize the power of spiritual love for healing the mind, heart, and soul, even through the distance of miles and decades. Emily Sparks reports that one young student—Reuben Pantier—who suffered a dysfunctional home-life needed her prayers and care even more than many of the others.
Introduction and Text of “Reuben Pantier”
In Edgar Lee Masters’ American classic Spoon River Anthology the epitaph of “Reuben Pantier,” son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier, tells Reuben’s story as he addresses his high school teacher, Miss Emily Sparks. (Emily’s story follows.)
Reuben Pantier
Well, Emily Sparks, your prayers were not wasted, Your love was not all in vain. I owe whatever I was in life To your hope that would not give me up, To your love that saw me still as good. Dear Emily Sparks, let me tell you the story. I pass the effect of my father and mother; The milliner’s daughter made me trouble And out I went in the world, Where I passed through every peril known Of wine and women and joy of life. One night, in a room in the Rue de Rivoli, I was drinking wine with a black-eyed cocotte, And the tears swam into my eyes. She thought they were amorous tears and smiled For thought of her conquest over me. But my soul was three thousand miles away, In the days when you taught me in Spoon River. And just because you no more could love me, Nor pray for me, nor write me letters, The eternal silence of you spoke instead. And the black-eyed cocotte took the tears for hers, As well as the deceiving kisses I gave her. Somehow, from that hour, I had a new vision— Dear Emily Sparks!
Interpretive Reading of “Reuben Pantier” and “Emily Sparks”
Commentary on “Reuben Pantier”
Reuben Pantier’s colorful character helps dramatize the power of spiritual love for healing the mind, heart, and soul, even through the distance of miles and decades.
First Movement: Remembering Her Prayer
Well, Emily Sparks, your prayers were not wasted, Your love was not all in vain. I owe whatever I was in life To your hope that would not give me up, To your love that saw me still as good.
Reuben Pantier, addressing his former teacher, Emily Sparks, reveals that the teacher had prayed for her student and always believed in his good nature. His opening remark hints that he did not move through this life as untroubled as he might have liked, but that with the good will of his former teacher, he has been able to salvage some self esteem.
Thus, Reuben tells Miss Sparks that she had not prayed for him in vain and that her care for him had not been a waste of her time and effort. He further asserts that he remains indebted to her for offering sheltering love and hope. He thanks her for seeing the good in him, even though he might not have thought himself good at the time.
Second Movement: A Sad Childhood
Dear Emily Sparks, let me tell you the story. I pass the effect of my father and mother; The milliner’s daughter made me trouble And out I went in the world, Where I passed through every peril known Of wine and women and joy of life.
In the second movement, Reuben tells his “story” to Miss Sparks. He managed to survive the withering childhood that might have blighted the life of one less strong willed. As readers have experienced in his parents epitaphs, his childhood must have been blighted by their selfish behavior, especially his mother.
But his parents formed a dysfunctional couple whose example would have proved negative for children. Nevertheless, Reuben claims that he survived this negative environment.
After “pass[ing] the effect of [his] father and mother,” however, he was caused great difficulty in a relationship with “the milliner’s daughter.” Leaving Spoon River and going out into the world, he met with all sorts of evil and was ensnared in a dangerous lifestyle. He became a womanizer and one given to debauchery.
Third Movement: Mistaken Tears
One night, in a room in the Rue de Rivoli, I was drinking wine with a black-eyed cocotte, And the tears swam into my eyes. She thought they were amorous tears and smiled For thought of her conquest over me.
Finally, Reuben gets to the heart of his “story”: one night he finds himself in a Paris hotel room with a “dark-eyed cocotte.” The prostitute sees that Reuben’s eyes have become brimmed with tears, and she thinks he is crying “amorous tears” for her. He reports that she thought his tears showed her power over him, or as he puts it, “for thought of her conquest over me.”
Fourth Movement: Spiritual Love Washes through Him
But my soul was three thousand miles away, In the days when you taught me in Spoon River. And just because you no more could love me, Nor pray for me, nor write me letters, The eternal silence of you spoke instead.
Reuben then declaims that his not with the prostitute but many mile away and many years back to the time when he was a student of Miss Emily’s. Thus his heart and mind were not with the prostitute in France but back with his former teacher in his old home town of Spoon River.
Reuben then declares that even though he was no longer in the physical presence of the one person who showed him care and attention, his soul became aware of the love she had shown him, and “the eternal silence of you spoke instead.”
Fifth Movement: A Change of Vision and Heart
And the black-eyed cocotte took the tears for hers, As well as the deceiving kisses I gave her. Somehow, from that hour, I had a new vision— Dear Emily Sparks!
The prostitute’s mistaken belief that Reuben cared for her motivated him to understand that the reality of spiritual love is stronger and more satisfying than the false affection of a physical relationship.
Thus from that time forward, his life had changed for the better. He saw the world in a different light—a spiritual light. And he realized that it was the prayers and love he had been afforded by “Dear Emily Sparks” that sparked his new understanding.
Edgar Lee Masters’ “Emily Sparks”
The poem,”Emily Sparks,” in Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology is the fourth entry the sequence of five epitaphs featuring a dysfunctional couple, their son, and the latter’s influential mentor. The sequence concludes with a report from “Trainor the Druggist.”
Introduction and Text of “Emily Sparks”
Edgar Lee Masters’ epigraph titled “Emily Sparks” from Spoon River Anthology portrays a very devout teacher, who behaved very motherly toward her students. She thought of them all as her own children.
Emily Sparks reports that one young student—Reuben Pantier—who suffered a dysfunctional home-life needed her prayers and care even more than many of the others.
Emily Sparks
Where is my boy, my boy— In what far part of the world? The boy I loved best of all in the school?— I, the teacher, the old maid, the virgin heart, Who made them all my children. Did I know my boy aright, Thinking of him as spirit aflame, Active, ever aspiring? Oh, boy, boy, for whom I prayed and prayed In many a watchful hour at night, Do you remember the letter I wrote you Of the beautiful love of Christ? And whether you ever took it or not, My boy, wherever you are, Work for your soul’s sake, That all the clay of you, all of the dross of you, May yield to the fire of you, Till the fire is nothing but light!… Nothing but light!
Commentary on “Emily Sparks”
The fourth epitaph from the Pantier Sequence features Reuben’s very spiritual teacher, whose prayers and guidance ultimately affected the boy’s life.
First Movement: The Strength of Spiritual Ties
Where is my boy, my boy— In what far part of the world? The boy I loved best of all in the school?—
Miss Emily speaks in a pleading tone, asking “Where is by boy, my boy—.” She wonders, “in what part of the world” this sad child might be living. Her concern for him is strong because he was “the boy I loved best of all in the school.”
Although many years have passed and, of course, both individuals are dead and speaking from their graves, the strength of spiritual ties lends credence to the drama being played out in this Spoon River scenario.
Second Movement: Marian Love for All Children
I, the teacher, the old maid, the virgin heart, Who made them all my children.
Miss Emily then succinctly describes herself in the second movement which is an unrimed couplet: “I, the teacher, the old maid, the virgin heart, / Who made them all my children.”
The teacher’s virginal quality provides a gentle parallel to Marian love for all children, especially the lowly birthed and less fortunate. She becomes a symbol for Christian love.
Third Movement: Faith in Christ’s Healing Love
Did I know my boy aright, Thinking of him as spirit aflame, Active, ever aspiring?
Emily then contemplates and questions her understanding of the young Reuben Pantier, for she chose to see in him one who aspired to “spirit aflame.” She knows that she might have read more into his character, sensing him to be more spiritually advanced than he was, but she continued in her faith that Christ would touch his soul and lift him from the travails to which mortals are susceptible.
Fourth Movement: Spiritual Love in a Letter
Oh, boy, boy, for whom I prayed and prayed In many a watchful hour at night, Do you remember the letter I wrote you Of the beautiful love of Christ?
Exclaiming again, “Oh, boy, boy,” she queries him about a letter she wrote to him. She reports having “prayed and prayed / In many a watchful hour at night.” Then asks if he remembers the letter she wrote him, “Of the beautiful love of Christ.”
Of course, she will not be able to receive a concrete response and has no way of knowing what, if any, effect she might have had on this young boy’s later life.
Fifth Movement: Spiritual Advice
And whether you ever took it or not, My boy, wherever you are, Work for your soul’s sake, That all the clay of you, all of the dross of you, May yield to the fire of you, Till the fire is nothing but light!… Nothing but light!
The speaker’s uncertainty is confirmed again as she remarks, “And whether you ever took it or not.” She has never been able to know what her influence has been over the young Reuben.
Miss Emily reports what the reader will understand to be the advice she had given him: “Work for your soul’s sake, / That all the clay of you, all of the dross of you, / May yield to the fire of you.”
Emily knows that if the boy follows her spiritual admonition, his earthly “fire” or human passions will transform and transcend into the light of spirit, and his human frailties will become “nothing but light!… / Nothing but light!”
A Cheerful Note
For the reader, the sad note, on the one hand, is that Miss Emily might never know that her advice was taken to heart by her former student, but on the other hand, a cheerful note that the student did eventually become the spiritual aspirant for which the virgin-hearted teacher had “prayed and prayed.”
Emily Sparks remains on of the more uplifting epitaphs from the entire sequence because it features a truly magnanimous character who cared about others instead of making excuses for a misbegotten path. Miss Emily remained true to herself and continues to send her spiritual strength to others through her prayers.
The Pantier Sequence
The five epigraphs that comprise the “Pantier Sequence”:
Benjamin Pantier A husband who appears to be weakling allowing himself to be cowed by his wife, an arrogant bully.
Mrs. Benjamin Pantier Unbridled arrogance, overweening vanity along with cowardly weakness have combined to bring about the destruction of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier.
Reuben Pantier Reuben Pantier’s colorful character helps dramatize the power of spiritual love for healing the mind, heart, and soul, even through the distance of miles and decades. Reuben is the son of the dysfunctional couple Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier.
Emily Sparks The epitaph is the fourth entry in the sequence of five epitaphs featuring a dysfunctional couple, their son, and the latter’s influential mentor.
Trainor, the Druggist This epitaph offers a final installment covering the pitiful story of the Pantiers: Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Pantier and their son Reuben.
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