Conrad Siever contrasts his feelings for two distinctive segments of his land: the part with the cemetery he finds “wasted”; but he loved the acres that held his apple tree and lovingly nurtured that tree in life and continues to do so even after death.
Introduction and Text of “Conrad Siever”
The speaker of Edgar Lee Masters’ “Conrad Siever” from Spoon River Anthology is contrasting his feelings for the acres of his property where a cemetery is located with those acres that hold his prized apple tree.
Siever’s property is mentioned in two other Spoon River poems; in “Hare Drummer,” Hare asks if the young folk “still go to Siever’s / For cider, after school.” Also in the epitaph,”Amelia Garrick,” Amelia refers to Siever’s woods, “Where the thickets from Siever’s woods / Have crept over.” Thus, the reader infers that Conrad Siever owned many acres of land.
The structure of this poem presents two movements that basically offer the theme of “not there, but here.” The first movement dramatizes the speaker’s negative or “not there” rubric; he did not love the part of his property that tendered certain features.
The second movement dramatizes the “but here” or positive part of the construction, which is the section of his land that he loved and attended to in life and seemingly continues to do so in death.
Conrad Siever
Not in that wasted garden Where bodies are drawn into grass That feeds no flocks, and into evergreens That bear no fruit— There where along the shaded walks Vain sighs are heard, And vainer dreams are dreamed Of close communion with departed souls— But here under the apple tree I loved and watched and pruned With gnarled hands In the long, long years; Here under the roots of this northern-spy To move in the chemic change and circle of life, Into the soil and into the flesh of the tree, And into the living epitaphs Of redder apples!
Commentary on “Conrad Siever”
Conrad Siever loved his apple tree and lovingly nurtured it in life and death.
First Movement: Fruitless Evergreens
Not in that wasted garden Where bodies are drawn into grass That feeds no flocks, and into evergreens That bear no fruit— There where along the shaded walks Vain sighs are heard, And vainer dreams are dreamed Of close communion with departed souls—
Despite his owning considerable property, Siever begins with a negative assertion that he did not take his essential being in “that wasted garden,” where despite the continued interest of other people, there is no food for “flocks” and where fruitless evergreens abide.
He points out that that wasted garden strikes him as rather useless, where “vain sighs are heard,” and he adds that even “vainer dreams are dreamed.” He is revealing that the part of his property that includes a cemetery is where those vain dreamers come to attempt “close communion with departed souls.”
Siever first concentrates on the part of his land that he finds least useful and therefore least important. By beginning with a sort of condemnation of uselessness, he thereby emphasizes his interest in productive endeavors, which he finds important, much more significant than the land that merely hold the bodies of dead folks.
Second Movement: Not There, but Here
But here under the apple tree I loved and watched and pruned With gnarled hands In the long, long years; Here under the roots of this northern-spy To move in the chemic change and circle of life, Into the soil and into the flesh of the tree, And into the living epitaphs Of redder apples!
Siever has remarked that it is not to those useless parts of his property that he was attached but instead to “here under the apple tree.” It was in this place that the speaker afforded his affection for his property; he worked on his apple tree, pruning and tending to its needs, even as his hands became “gnarled,” likely causing pain during his hard labor. Obviously, Siever’s real love and occupation was for his apple tree; thus, he tended it with great care and affection.
Now Siever is buried under his beloved “northern-spy,” specifically and more importantly, “under the roots.” And he attests that he is still attending to his former occupation. His spirit is now able to “move in the chemic change and circle of life.” That spirit circulates “into the soil and into the flesh of the tree.”
Siever dramatically and triumphantly announces that just as when alive he strove to produce better apples, his spirit is now accomplishing the same goal as it pushes itself “into the living epitaphs / Of redder apples!”
Siever has shown that he bestowed his love and attention upon the fertile, apple-growing segment of his land. Instead of “epitaphs” of dead people, he continues to grow living reports of useful fruit as he continues to pursue “redder apples.”
He is demonstrating that his loving interest was in useful, productive activity, rather than dreaming and sighing and eternal waiting. Even in death, his strong spirit continues his dedication to caring for his apple producing tree.
”Hare Drummer” portrays beautiful memories of pastoral scenery.
Introduction and Text of “Hare Drummer”
Hare Drummer asks a series of questions, seeking to learn how things have continued on after his death. That question format is reminiscent of A. E. Housman’s “Is my team ploughing,” in which a dead man asks for a report about how things are going now that he has died.
Hare Drummer
Do the boys and girls still go to Siever’s For cider, after school, in late September? Or gather hazel nuts among the thickets On Aaron Hatfield’s farm when the frosts begin? For many times with the laughing girls and boys Played I along the road and over the hills When the sun was low and the air was cool, Stopping to club the walnut tree Standing leafless against a flaming west. Now, the smell of the autumn smoke, And the dropping acorns, And the echoes about the vales Bring dreams of life. They hover over me. They question me: Where are those laughing comrades? How many are with me, how many In the old orchards along the way to Siever’s, And in the woods that overlook The quiet water?
Interpretive Reading
Commentary on “Hare Drummer”
Hare Drummer poses a series of questions about what life has been like for those who have lived on after he died.
First Movement: Does Life Go On After?
Do the boys and girls still go to Siever’s For cider, after school, in late September? Or gather hazel nuts among the thickets On Aaron Hatfield’s farm when the frosts begin?
Hare begins by asking if the young folk “still go to Siever’s / For cider, after school, in late September?” He continues with his second question, asking if they still “gather hazel nuts among the thickets” on the farm owned by Aaron Hatfield “when the frost begins.”
Hare’s purpose in questioning seems quite innocent, as if he is merely curious about the continuation of life as he had seen it. And his questions and comments simply paint a portrait of simple, pastoral life including farms, hills, trees, cold weather, and “quiet water.”
Second Movement: Down Memory Lane
For many times with the laughing girls and boys Played I along the road and over the hills When the sun was low and the air was cool, Stopping to club the walnut tree Standing leafless against a flaming west.
Hare then offers the explanation that he had accompanied “the laughing girls and boys” as they all “played [ ] along the road and over the hills.” He remembers how they would knock down walnuts from the tree which stood “leafless against the flaming west.”
Third Movement: The Smell of Autumn Smoke
Now, the smell of the autumn smoke, And the dropping acorns, And the echoes about the vales Bring dreams of life. They hover over me.
Intimating that he now smells “autumn smoke” and acorns drop on his grave, he dramatizes how “echoes about the vales / Bring dreams of life.” His memory abounds with sights and sounds that he experienced when he was alive. These dreams and experiences “hover over me,” he asserts.
Fourth Movement: Questioned by Phantoms
They question me: Where are those laughing comrades? How many are with me, how many In the old orchards along the way to Siever’s, And in the woods that overlook The quiet water?
And just as Hare questions some phantom audience, he is questioned by the same phantoms. They want to know how many of his former playmates are with him and how many are still making their way through “the old orchards along the way to Siever’s.” And he also wonders how many still visit “the woods that overlook / The quiet water.”
“Frank Drummer” had high aspirations for himself but died young at age twenty-five.
Introduction and Text of “Frank Drummer”
The epitaph”Frank Drummer” from Edgar Lee Masters’ American classic Spoon River Anthology features a character study of a milder personality than most of the other Spoon River collection o f speakers.
Frank Drummer
Out of a cell into this darkened space— The end at twenty-five! My tongue could not speak what stirred within me, And the village thought me a fool. Yet at the start there was a clear vision, A high and urgent purpose in my soul Which drove me on trying to memorize The Encyclopedia Britannica!
Commentary on “Frank Drummer”
Although the reader never learns to what specific goals he aspired, Frank reveals that he at least thought himself capable of achieving great things. He demonstrates an intense emotional make-up that was likely responsible for his landing in jail.
First Movement: Died in Jail
Out of a cell into this darkened space— The end at twenty-five! My tongue could not speak what stirred within me, And the village thought me a fool.
Frank reports that he died in jail and was immediately introduced to the grave, “this darkened space”—and at the young age of twenty-five. His emotion was so strong that he could not even speak, and thus the town “thought me a fool.” Frank, of course, sees himself as one destined for high achievement, but instead he committed some crime that brought him low.
Second Movement: Bright Mind Turned Dark
Yet at the start there was a clear vision, A high and urgent purpose in my soul Which drove me on trying to memorize The Encyclopedia Britannica!
However, early on in this life, his mind was bright and his soul possessed “[a] high and urgent purpose.” That high purpose motivated him to try to “memorize / The Encyclopedia Britannica!”
Frank’s evaluation of his own capabilities show that he was not tethered to reality. He thinks that memorizing a set of encyclopedia was enough to support his contention that he was clear-minded and had “high purpose.”
Lydia Puckett spews forth a very different view of Knowlt Hoheimer. Although he has asserted that he ran off and joined the army simply because he stole some livestock and would have landed in jail over it, Lydia believes Knowlt went to the army because she told him to buzz off.
Introduction and Text of “Lydia Puckett”
The character “Lydia Puckett” offers a little drama showcasing her thoughts on the topic of Knowlt’s joining the army.
Lydia Puckett
Knowlt Hoheimer ran away to the war The day before Curl Trenary Swore out a warrant through Justice Arnett For stealing hogs. But that’s not the reason he turned a soldier. He caught me running with Lucius Atherton. We quarreled and I told him never again To cross my path. Then he stole the hogs and went to the war— Back of every soldier is a woman.
Commentary on “Lydia Puckett”
Lydia Puckett spews forth a very different view of Knowlt Hoheimer. Although he has asserted that he ran off and joined the army simply because he stole some livestock and would have landed in jail over it, Lydia believes Knowlt went to the army because she told him to buzz off.
First Movement: It Wasn’t the Hog-Stealing
Knowlt Hoheimer ran away to the war The day before Curl Trenary Swore out a warrant through Justice Arnett For stealing hogs. But that’s not the reason he turned a soldier.
Lydia begins her epitaph by reporting some specifics not revealed by Knowlt. Justice Arnett had sworn out a warrant for Knowlt to be arrested, after Curl Trenary, owner of the livestock stolen by Knowlt, had pressed charges against the thief.
Thus, Knowlt claims to have joined the army to avoid incarceration, but Lydia now insists that Knowlt did not got to war for that reason.
Second Movement: She Told Him to Buzz Off
He caught me running with Lucius Atherton. We quarreled and I told him never again To cross my path. Then he stole the hogs and went to the war— Back of every soldier is a woman.
Lydia and Knowlt had been sweethearts. Then Lydia started seeing “Lucius Atherton” while still involved with Knowlt. After Knowlt discovered Lydia’s cheating, the two quarreled. Then Lydia ended her relationship with Knowlt.
Knowlt, after the quarrel and break up of his relationship with Lydia, then committed the theft of Curl Trenary’s hogs. He subsequently went off to war and was killed. Lydia waxes philosophical about Knowlt’s having died as a soldier; she reasons, egomaniacally, “Back of every soldier is a woman.”
Of course, Lydia may be exaggerating to hoist her own self-esteem. One is wise to take much of the self-aggrandizement in these epitaphs with a huge grain of salt. Same goes for Knowlt, although he is likely more truthful than Lydia, but certainty about either is far from certain.
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.
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.
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.
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.
