Edgar Lee Masters’ “Mrs. Meyers”
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.
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