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Tag: Spoon River Anthology

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “The Town Marshal” and “Jack McGuire”

    005a Image/Edgar-Lee-Masters-Portrait.jpg
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “The Town Marshal” and “Jack McGuire”

    In Edgar Lee Masters’ “The Town Marshal,” a man named Logan is hired by prohibitionists. Logan meets his demise because of his bullying personality.  In “Jack McGuire,” the protagonist escapes a lynch mob, and more is learned about the marshal he shot.

    Introduction and Text of “The Town Marshal”

    The epitaph “The Town Marshal” is followed in the sequence by “Jack McGuire” in Edgar Lee Masters’ American classic Spoon River Anthology.  The two need to be read together in order to get the total essence of the marshal’s personality, as well as his name.

    Logan, the town marshal, speaks in “The Town Marshal.” Although he remains nameless in his own poem, he is called “Logan” in the companion piece, “Jack McGuire.”   Marshal Logan, who was hired by prohibitionists,  is killed because he was a bully, but in the final analysis, he can be credited with admitting his fatal flaw.

    The Town Marshal

    The prohibitionists made me Town Marshal
    When the saloons were voted out,
    Because when I was a drinking man,  
    Before I joined the church, I killed a Swede  
    At the saw-mill near Maple Grove.
    And they wanted a terrible man,
    Grim, righteous, strong, courageous,
    And a hater of saloons and drinkers,
    To keep law and order in the village.
    And they presented me with a loaded cane
    With which I struck Jack McGuire  
    Before he drew the gun with which he killed me.
    The Prohibitionists spent their money in vain
    To hang him, for in a dream
    I appeared to one of the twelve jurymen
    And told him the whole secret story.
    Fourteen years were enough for killing me.

    Commentary on “The Town Marshal”

    The town marshal, hired by prohibitionists, is a man named Logan, who meets his demise because of his bullying personality.

    First Movement:  Marshal by Prohibition

    The prohibitionists made me Town Marshal
    When the saloons were voted out,
    Because when I was a drinking man,  
    Before I joined the church, I killed a Swede  
    At the saw-mill near Maple Grove.

    Logan begins by reporting that he became town marshal because of prohibition.  He had been “a drinking man” and had once “killed a Swede,” before he “joined the church.”  Logan’s reputation seemed to lend itself to the kind of individual the prohibitionists wanted to enlist to enforce the new statute. 

    Logan’s grating, obnoxious personality is that of a braggadocio, who is not shy about tooting his own horn.  His assessment of the conclusion of the trial of the man who shot him demonstrates this trait.

    Second Movement:  A Strong Anti-Boozer

    And they wanted a terrible man,
    Grim, righteous, strong, courageous,
    And a hater of saloons and drinkers,
    To keep law and order in the village.

    Logan explains that prohibitionists wanted a strong, anti-booze man who was “a terrible 

    man, / Grim, righteous, strong, courageous, / And a hater of saloons and drinkers.” Logan, no doubt, sees himself as his “terrible man,” who could “keep law and order in the village.” Again, the town marshal shows the high estimation he has of himself.  His strong sense of self-accomplishment motivates his actions.

    Third Movement:   Armed with a Loaded Cane

    And they presented me with a loaded cane
    With which I struck Jack McGuire  
    Before he drew the gun with which he killed me.

    Logan reveals that the prohibitionists armed him with “a loaded cane,” that is, a walking-stick that contains lead in one end, which renders it a legal weapon.   Quickly, the marshal cuts to the heart of the matter, stating that he struck Jack McGuire with this loaded cane just before McGuire pulled a gun and shot Logan dead.

    The details of the encounter with McGuire are recounted in McGuire’s testimony, the poem that follows “The Town Marshal” in the Spoon River Anthology.   After the reader is apprised of those details, Logan’s personality becomes clearer.

    Fourth Movement:  Fourteen Years instead of Hanging

    The Prohibitionists spent their money in vain
    To hang him, for in a dream
    I appeared to one of the twelve jurymen
    And told him the whole secret story.
    Fourteen years were enough for killing me.

    Logan boastfully takes credit for McGuire’s receiving a sentence of only fourteen years, despite the fact that the prohibitionists “spent their money in vain” trying to get McGuire to swing at the end of a rope.  

    Marshal Logan claims that he visited one of the jurymen in a dream and told him the whole sordid tale about how he was shot. The story vindicates McGuire, at least, enough so that hanging was not the recommended punishment.  

    Thus McGuire was sentenced to only fourteen years, and Logan feels that that punishment is appropriate.   At least, Logan does finally recognize himself as a bully and wants to see justice prevail.

    Edgar Lee Masters - Commemorative Stamp
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters – Commemorative Stamp

    Introduction and Text of “Jack McGuire”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Jack McGuire” from his American classic Spoon River Anthology is a companion piece to “The Town Marshal.”   In this epitaph “Jack McGuire,” the reader learns more about Logan, the town marshal, in addition to Logan’s “The Town Marshal” soliloquy.

    Jack McGuire

    They would have lynched me
    Had I not been secretly hurried away
    To the jail at Peoria.
    And yet I was going peacefully home,
    Carrying my jug, a little drunk,
    When Logan, the marshal, halted me,
    Called me a drunken hound and shook me,
    And, when I cursed him for it, struck me
    With that Prohibition loaded cane—
    All this before I shot him.
    They would have hanged me except for this:
    My lawyer, Kinsey Keene, was helping to land
    Old Thomas Rhodes for wrecking the bank,
    And the judge was a friend of Rhodes
    And wanted him to escape,
    And Kinsey offered to quit on Rhodes
    For fourteen years for me.
    And the bargain was made. I served my time
    And learned to read and write.


    Commentary on “Jack McGuire”

    Jack McGuire escapes a lynch mob, and more is learned about the marshal he shot.

    First Movement:  Potential Lynch Mob

    They would have lynched me
    Had I not been secretly hurried away
    To the jail at Peoria.

    Jack begins by reporting the startling news that he would have been hanged by a lynch mob, if he had not been “secretly hurried away / To the jail in Peoria.”   Jack then implies that his deed in Spoon River had worked up a number of folks who were ready to administer vigilante justice. this is, without a proper trial.

    Second Movement: Minding His Own Business

    And yet I was going peacefully home,
    Carrying my jug, a little drunk,
    When Logan, the marshal, halted me,
    Called me a drunken hound and shook me,

    Jack explains that he was minding his own business, “going peacefully home,” when he was accosted by “Logan, the marshal.”  Jack admits that he was “a little drunk” and that he was “carrying [his] jug” on his way home.

    But Logan, who was employed by the prohibitionists to enforce the ban on booze in Spoon River, stopped Jack and bullied him, calling him “a drunken hound.”  In his bullying fashion, Logan also invaded Jack’s personal space and “shook him.”

    Third Movement:  Violent Confrontation 

    And, when I cursed him for it, struck me
    With that Prohibition loaded cane—
    All this before I shot him.

    Jack reacted to Logan’s harassment by swearing at the marshal.  Logan then struck Jack with his “Prohibition loaded cane.”  Jack responded by drawing out his gun and shooting the marshal dead.

    Fourth Movement:  Avoiding Hanging

    They would have hanged me except for this:
    My lawyer, Kinsey Keene, was helping to land
    Old Thomas Rhodes for wrecking the bank,
    And the judge was a friend of Rhodes
    And wanted him to escape,
    And Kinsey offered to quit on Rhodes
    For fourteen years for me.

    Jack explains how he avoided the gallows, and his explanation differs from Logan’s.  Jack’s lawyer, Kinsey Keene, was also the counsel against “Old Thomas Rhodes” who was charged with “wrecking the bank.”  The judge in Jack’s case was a friend of Rhodes’ and wanted Rhodes to be acquitted.  So Jack’s lawyer Keene “offered to quit on Rhodes / For fourteen years for me.”

    The reader will recall that Logan interpreted the fourteen-year sentence very differently; Logan claimed that he appeared to a juryman in a dream and revealed his complicity in his own death, and that resulted in the short sentence for Jack.  

    Fifth Movement:  So He Learns to Read and Write

    And the bargain was made. I served my time
    And learned to read and write.

    Jack says he served his term and “learned to read and write.”  Jack, of course, knows nothing about Logan’s claim to have appeared in a dream to the juryman.   And Logan could not have known about the deal struck between the judge and Keene. 

    This disconnect opens up a fascinating arena for the evaluation of the worth of each man’s story.  While the reader accepts Jack’s version as probably the correct one, the reader cannot with certainty discount Logan’s version.

    A bitter irony prevails, however, that Jack, who actually took the life a fellow human being—as opposed to merely being a bully, as Logan was—appears to be the one who came out the winner; not only was his sentence light, but he also learned to read and write to boot.

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Theodore the Poet”

    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters - Portrait by Francis J. Quirk https://francisquirk.blogspot.com/2017/03/visit-to-national-portrait-gallery.html
    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters – Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Theodore the Poet”

    The speaker in Edgar Lee Masters’ “Theodore the Poet” contemplates the purpose of life employing a comparison of crawfish and people.

    Introduction and Text of “Theodore the Poet”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Theodore the Poet” from Masters’ American classic Spoon River Anthology consists of two grand movements, each with three minor movements. The first grand movement focuses on Theodore’s intense scrutiny of crawfish. The second grand movement reveals that same level of study of people. 

    This complex arrangement fits the conception of this unique speaker as a “poet.”  As poets are makers, they need material for the making; unfortunately, Theodore offers no examples of his poetic products, only the moving part of his mind, gathered in those bits of materials.

    Theodore the Poet

    As a boy, Theodore, you sat for long hours
    On the shore of the turbid Spoon  
    With deep-set eye staring at the door of the crawfish’s burrow,
    Waiting for him to appear, pushing ahead,
    First his waving antennæ, like straws of hay,
    And soon his body, colored like soap-stone,
    Gemmed with eyes of jet.  
    And you wondered in a trance of thought  
    What he knew, what he desired, and why he lived at all.
    But later your vision watched for men and women
    Hiding in burrows of fate amid great cities,
    Looking for the souls of them to come out,
    So that you could see  
    How they lived, and for what,
    And why they kept crawling so busily
    Along the sandy way where water fails
    As the summer wanes.


    Commentary on “Theodore the Poet” 

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Theodore the Poet” displays in a complex pattern of two grand movements, each with three minor movements.

    First Grand Movement:  Observation of Crawfish

    In the first grand movement, the speaker offers details gleaned from his hours of observing crawfish. This movement plays out in the first, second, and third minor movements.

    First Minor Movement:  Addressing His Alter Ego

    As a boy, Theodore, you sat for long hours
    On the shore of the turbid Spoon  
    With deep-set eye staring at the door of the crawfish’s burrow,
    Waiting for him to appear, pushing ahead,

    As Theodore addresses an alter ego, he is demonstrating the introspective nature of the poet. He begins by broaching the subject of his life-long habit of sitting by Spoon River “for long hours.” As Theodore sat peering intensely at the opening of the crawfish’s abode, the budding poet in him waited with curiosity for the crawfish to appear.

    Second Minor Movement:  Crawfish

    First his waving antennæ, like straws of hay,
    And soon his body, colored like soap-stone,
    Gemmed with eyes of jet.  

    The speaker then dramatizes his next act of talking to himself as he vividly describes the appearance of the crawfish followed by their activities. The crawfish’s antennae were waving, and they looked like “straws of hay.”  

    After the hay-like antennae appeared, the body of the crawfish soon emerged.  The crawfish body was the color of “soap-stone,” and it was “gemmed with eyes of jet.”  Theodore knows these details because he so studiously observed them.

    Third Minor Movement:  Philosophical Turn of Mind

    And you wondered in a trance of thought  
    What he knew, what he desired, and why he lived at all.

    In the final minor movement of the first grand movement, the speaker reveals what was on his mind as he watched the crawfish. He was, in fact, musing on and wondering about what the crawfish knew and what they desired.  Finally, he desired to understand why those creature even existed.   

    Theodore’s observations and musing demonstrate the philosophical nature of the mind of his ilk as a poet.  Poets like Ralph Waldo Emerson possessed that same kind of philosophical mind—observing, wondering, musing, and finally putting those musings down in written form.

    Second Grand Movement: Observation of People

    In the second grand movement, the speaker offers his observation of people.  This grand movement displays in the following fourth, fifth, and sixth  three minor movements.

    Fourth Minor Movement:  From Crawfish to People

    But later your vision watched for men and women
    Hiding in burrows of fate amid great cities,
    Looking for the souls of them to come out,

    In the second grand movement, later in Theodore’s life, instead of watching crawfish, he turned to observing people; thus he claims that “men and women” became the focus of his peering eye. 

    Because of Theodore’s former experience of waiting and watching for crawfish, the speaker/poet metaphorically refers to the places from which people exit as “burrows,” as he referred to the abode of the crawfish. 

    But he describes those people-burrows as great “hiding” places where those men and women play out their “fate amid great cities.”   Theodore then explains that he was watching the people to determine the nature of their souls; thus he was constantly searching for evidence of soulful behavior of the men and women he so studiously watched.

    Fifth Minor Movement:  Same Attitude

    So that you could see  
    How they lived, and for what,

    In this transitional movement, Theodore reveals that he watched the people with nearly the identical attitude that he had watched the crawfish: he wanted to understand the nature and procedure involved in the lives of those men and women as well as what those people desired out of life.  

    The philosophical mind of Theodore the Poet has drawn the inevitable parallel between human and animal life in such a way as to confound the minds of lesser observers.  Theodore’s observations have thus offered a unique poetic view of creation.

    Sixth Minor Movement:  The Question of Existence Remains

    And why they kept crawling so busily
    Along the sandy way where water fails
    As the summer wanes.

    Theodore wanted to understand people as well crawfish, but in the end, people became virtually indistinguishable from the crawfish.   In Theodore’s colorful description, just as the crawfish crawled over the sand, the people, in Theodore’s mind, took on the same quality of “crawling so busily / Along the sandy way.”

    Also like crawfish, those men and women seemed to be moving along that same “sandy way where water fails / As the summer wanes.”  Theodore has concluded that both crawfish and humankind seem to live rather useless lives.

    Because he leaves off his discussion without approaching his other main desire of knowing why those creatures, whether belonging to the animal kingdom or to the human race exist at all, he is implying that he will continue to wonder why. 

    And quite likely he has concluded that there is no answer that the human mind can ever conceive which can fully and finally answer that ultimate question of existence.

    Edgar Lee Masters - Commemorative Stamp
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters – Commemorative Stamp

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Zenas Witt”

    Image: Edgar Lee Masters https://www.best-poems.net/edgar_lee_masters/index.html#google_vignette
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Zenas Witt”

    One of Spoon River’s more vague speakers from the grave, “Zenas Witt” does make it clear that he suffered a miserable existence from age sixteen. 

    Introduction and Text of “Zenas Witt”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Zenas Witt” from Masters’ American classic Spoon River Anthology features an unfortunate character whose nerves, it would seem, led him to an early grave. Zenas is one of Edgar Lee Masters’ more vague speakers from the Spoon River graveyard.  

    This speaker does manage to impart the fact that his short life caused him great suffering before it was extinguished at an early age sometime vaguely after he had turned sixteen.  

    Zenas never becomes specific enough to let the reader know exactly when he died or what caused his demise.  That omission seems to be intentionally motivated in order to emphasize the young man’s poor memory and weakness of health.

    Zenas Witt

    I was sixteen, and I had the most terrible dreams,
    And specks before my eyes, and nervous weakness. 
    And I couldn’t remember the books I read,
    Like Frank Drummer who memorized page after page 
    And my back was weak, and I worried and worried,
    And I was embarrassed and stammered my lessons, 
    And when I stood up to recite I’d forget 
    Everything that I had studied. 
    Well, I saw Dr. Weese’s advertisement, 
    And there I read everything in print,
    Just as if he had known me; 
    And about the dreams which I couldn’t help. 
    So I knew I was marked for an early grave. 
    And I worried until I had a cough, 
    And then the dreams stopped.
    And then I slept the sleep without dreams 
    Here on the hill by the river.

    Commentary on “Zenas Witt”

    Zenas is fixated on his poor health issues.  He is especially disturbed about his inability to remember things he had learned.

    First Movement:   Fuzzy Thinking

    I was sixteen, and I had the most terrible dreams,
    And specks before my eyes, and nervous weakness. 
    And I couldn’t remember the books I read,
    Like Frank Drummer who memorized page after page 

    Zenas begins his discourse, by announcing that when he was sixteen years old, he had “the most terrible dreams.”  He saw “specks before [his] eyes.”  He reports his inability to remember books he had read. He likens his condition to “Frank Drummer,” who claimed to have memorized the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.  

    The disconnect between Zenas’ assertion that his condition was similar to Frank Drummer and his own description of his difficulty demonstrates the fuzzy thinking that the former seems to suffer in addition to his physical problems.

    Second Movement:  Bad Health

    And my back was weak, and I worried and worried,
    And I was embarrassed and stammered my lessons, 
    And when I stood up to recite I’d forget 
    Everything that I had studied. 

    Zenas continues to describe his unfortunate health issues:  he had a weak back, he worried excessively, he was easily embarrassed by his maladies, and when he had to stand up in class to recite his lessons, he would forget them.   Zenas’ memory was so bad that even though he had studied, he could never remember anything he had committed to memory.

    Third Movement:  Miracle Cure

    Well, I saw Dr. Weese’s advertisement, 
    And there I read everything in print,
    Just as if he had known me; 
    And about the dreams which I couldn’t help. 

    Zenas reports that he saw “Dr. Weese’s advertisement” and was attracted by what the ad said.  He read everything about Dr. Weese’s putative miracle cure.  Zenas felt that the doctor was describing his own situation, “just as if he had known me.” 

    The doc even knows about the dreams, and Zenas feels he must emphasis that he could not control the dreams.  Such a confession implies that Zenas might have believed he had control over his other woes but felt guilty that he did not do so.

    Fourth Movement:   No Miracle Cur

    So I knew I was marked for an early grave. 
    And I worried until I had a cough, 
    And then the dreams stopped. 

    Nothing ever came of this possible miracle cure, and Zenas admits that he was sure he would die early.  Thus, he continued to worry right up until the time developed a cough.     He says that the dreams abruptly came to a halt.  He does not elaborate or even hint at how long he continued to suffer his nervousness, nightmares, and poor memory.

    Fifth Movement:   No Dreaming on the Hill

    And then I slept the sleep without dreams 
    Here on the hill by the river.

    Suddenly, without fanfare, Zenas is dead.  He dramatically and poetically refers to his condition as “slee[ping] the sleep without dreams / Here on the hill by the river.” Zenas is one of the more tight-lipped deceased reporters from the Spoon River graveyard.  

    The reader never learns the specifics of his illnesses and is left to guess their nature as well as just how long Zenas had to suffer them.  He also leaves unclear just exactly what eventually killed him.

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Charlie French”

    005a Image/Edgar-Lee-Masters-Portrait.jpg
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Charlie French”

    Charlie French died of lockjaw, wondering which of his friends had shot off the cap pistol that delivered the fatal blow. 

    Introduction and Text of “Charlie French”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Charlie French” from Spoon River Anthology features its character musing about who might have been responsible for his contracting lockjaw which lead to his death.  

    The little drama creates a speaker in Charlie who finds himself obsessed with a specific detail.   After dying from this dreadful disease, he has his mind fixed upon who did it, who “snapped the toy pistol against” his hand.

    Charlie French

    Did you ever find out
    Which one of the O’Brien boys it was
    Who snapped the toy pistol against my hand?  
    There when the flags were red and white  
    In the breeze and “Bucky” Estil
    Was firing the cannon brought to Spoon River  
    From Vicksburg by Captain Harris;
    And the lemonade stands were running  
    And the band was playing,  
    To have it all spoiled
    By a piece of a cap shot under the skin of my hand,
    And the boys all crowding about me saying:
    “You’ll die of lock-jaw, Charlie, sure.”
    Oh, dear! oh, dear!
    What chum of mine could have done it?

    Commentary on “Charlie French”

    After dying of lockjaw, Charlie French has continued to wonder and obsess about which of his friends had shot off the cap pistol that delivered the fatal blow.

    First Movement:  Unidentified Listener

    Did you ever find out
    Which one of the O’Brien boys it was
    Who snapped the toy pistol against my hand?  

    Charlie is addressing an eclipsed listener, that is, a listener who cannot be identified.  Traditionally, when a poet’s speaker seems to be addressing no one, the context usually reveals that the speaker is, in fact, musing to him/herself.  But this is not the case with Charlie.   

    Charlie French wants to know who the culprit is who shot off a cap gun against his hand.  He asks the question at the beginning of his discourse and then concludes the discourse with the same question.  After his musing, he remains in the dark about who the cap-gun shooter was; thus he repeats the question.

    Second Movement:   A Civil War Enactment

    There when the flags were red and white  
    In the breeze and “Bucky” Estil
    Was firing the cannon brought to Spoon River  
    From Vicksburg by Captain Harris;

    Charlie describes the event at which his fatality occurred.  The description reveals a Civil War enactment or some other military observance.  There were “red and white” flags flapping in the breeze, while “Bucky” Estil was firing up the cannon.  

    The cannon had been transported to Spoon River by “Captain Harris,” who brought it all the way from Vicksburg. The Civil War era relic suggests that the celebration might have been a commemoration of that war, the American Civil War 1861–1865.

    Third Movement:  The Cap-Gun Mishap

    And the lemonade stands were running  
    And the band was playing,  
    To have it all spoiled
    By a piece of a cap shot under the skin of my hand,

    In addition to the cannon fire and flags, there were lemonade stands and a “band was playing.”  Then upon this jubilant scene intrudes Charlie’s unfortunate and ultimately fatal cap-gun shooting.  The day was moving along splendidly, “To have it all spoiled / By a piece of a cap shot under the skin of my hand.”

    Fourth Movement:   Strong Suggestibility

    And the boys all crowding about me saying:
    “You’ll die of lock-jaw, Charlie, sure.”

    Seeing the cap-shot stain under Charlie’s skin, the other boys gathered around him and started making comments:  “You’ll die of lock-jaw, Charlie, sure.”   The suggestion frightened Charlie so severely that he actually did contract the disease, and then he expired, leaving the reader little knowledge about this character other than his strong suggestibility.

    Fifth Movement:   It’s a Who Dunnit

    Oh, dear! oh, dear!
    What chum of mine could have done it?

    The exclamation, “Oh, dear! oh, dear!,” connects two strands of thought and activity:   First, the boys who were observing Charlie’s cap-gun shot hand are thinking thus, if, in fact they are not the ones projecting this utterance.

    And second, Charlie himself definitely engages this “oh dear” sentiment about his own health’s prospects; therefore, the implication is that Charlie let out this cry.    Charlie’s main reason for carrying on this discourse is further emphasized as he continues to wonder, “What chum of mine could have done it?”

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Johnnie Sayre”

    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters - Portrait by Francis J. Quirk https://francisquirk.blogspot.com/2017/03/visit-to-national-portrait-gallery.html
    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters – Portrait by Francis J. Quirk https://francisquirk.blogspot.com/2017/03/visit-to-national-portrait-gallery.html

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Johnnie Sayre”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ character Johnnie Sayre speaks to the Divine Belovèd (God), remembering the excruciating pain that resulted in his death, finding grace in his early demise.

    Introduction and Text of “Johnnie Sayre”

    In Edgar Lee Masters’ “Johnnie Sayre” from his American classic Spoon River Anthology, the speaker is talking to the Divine Creator, while most of the characters address their remarks to the citizens of Spoon River or one of their relatives.

    Some of the characters who speak in this remarkable sequence become admirable in the eyes of their readers/listeners, while others invite further disdain, just as they obviously did in their miserable lifetimes. 

    Johnnie Sayre is one the more admirable characters.  He accepts responsibility for his own transgressions in life, and he humbly offers his love and appreciation to the Divine Reality (God) for the soul guidance he understands he is being given.

    Johnnie Sayre

    Father, thou canst never know
    The anguish that smote my heart  
    For my disobedience, the moment I felt
    The remorseless wheel of the engine
    Sink into the crying flesh of my leg.
    As they carried me to the home of widow Morris
    I could see the school-house in the valley  
    To which I played truant to steal rides upon the trains.  
    I prayed to live until I could ask your forgiveness—
    And then your tears, your broken words of comfort!
    From the solace of that hour I have gained infinite happiness.
    Thou wert wise to chisel for me:  
    “Taken from the evil to come.”

    Commentary of “Johnnie Sayre”

    Masters’ character Johnnie Sayre speaks to the Divine Belovèd, remembering the excruciating pain that resulted in his death, finding grace in his early demise.

    First Movement:  Addressing His Creator

    Father, thou canst never know
    The anguish that smote my heart  
    For my disobedience, the moment I felt
    The remorseless wheel of the engine
    Sink into the crying flesh of my leg.

    In a prayerful mode, Johnnie Sayre addresses his Maker, exaggerating that the Creator, Who is both omnipresent and omniscient, cannot know how much Johnnie suffered.   Of course, God knows such, but by exclaiming that He cannot, Johnnie implies that the depth is well beyond human comprehension.

    Johnnie was stealing a ride on a train, when he finds himself losing his leg to “[t]he remorseless wheel of the engine” that “[sank] into the crying flesh of [his] leg.”  Johnnie’s anguish, however, is not that his leg was being crushed.

    That unhappy accident merely triggers his guilt over the act of theft.  He suddenly becomes aware that he is paying a karmic debt, and his capability to understand and accept that debt causes him great “anguish.”

    Second Movement:  Remembering His Transgressions

    As they carried me to the home of widow Morris
    I could see the school-house in the valley  
    To which I played truant to steal rides upon the trains.

    Johnnie is reminded of his transgression against one of the commandments as he is being transported to the nearby home of the widow Morris.   As the rescuers move Johnnie to the woman’s home, he could see his “school-house in the valley.”  He admits that he played hooky from school “to steal rides upon the trains.”

    Third Movement:   Desirous of God’s Forgiveness

    I prayed to live until I could ask your forgiveness—
    And then your tears, your broken words of comfort!

    Johnnie confesses that he wanted to live until he could beg God for His forgiveness.  He talks to God as he would his human father.   Johnnie expects to see God shed tears for His son’s transgression, and he awaits God’s “broken words of comfort!”  At this point, Johnnie shows a touching sweetness in his relationship with the Divine.

    Johnnie accepts his responsibility for his own behavior; he does not blame God or the Spoon River citizens as so many others in the cemetery do, for example “Minerva Jones” and “Daisy Fraser.”  

    Fourth Movement: Crediting the Divine Creator

    From the solace of that hour I have gained infinite happiness. Thou wert wise to chisel for me:  
    “Taken from the evil to come.”

    Johnnie is amply rewarded because of his attitude.  He finds “solace” and furthermore “gain[s] infinite happiness.”  He credits the Divine Creator for “chisel[ing] for me” a life that he would probably have been too weak to have chosen for himself.

    Johnnie realizes that God has rescued him from all the “evil to come”; he knows that the way he was living could have only brought more evil into his life, and through God’s grace, he has been spared that evil, and at the same time given succor.  

    The metaphorical chiseling also implies that perhaps upon Johnnie’s tombstone is chiseled the phrase, “Taken from the evil to come.”  In that case, it becomes clear that Johnnie’s exploits were well known by those close to him, which makes Johnnie’s attitude even more admirable.    

    Instead of cursing those who knew of his “evil,” he accepts their admonitions and rightly credits Divine Intervention that finally liberates him from further wrongs.  Johnnie remains one of the more admirable characters residing in the Spoon River after-life menagerie of characters.

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Julia Miller”

    Image: Edgar Lee Masters https://www.best-poems.net/edgar_lee_masters/index.html#google_vignette
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Julia Miller”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ American-Innovative sonnet “Julia Miller” from his American classic Spoon River Anthology reveals a troubled soul who leaves the world with the words of Jesus flickering before her eyes.

    Introduction and Text of “Julia Miller”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Julia Miller” from his American classic Spoon River Anthology vaguely resembles an American-Innovative sonnet, with its movements seeming to  follow the Italian form as practiced by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in her Sonnets from the Portuguese. 

    Masters’ choice of the American-Innovative sonnet likely reveals the notion that he wants to suggest this particular character is more poetic than some others, whose diatribes remain rather prosaic.

    Julia Miller

    We quarreled that morning,
    For he was sixty-five, and I was thirty,
    And I was nervous and heavy with the child
    Whose birth I dreaded.
    I thought over the last letter written me
    By that estranged young soul
    Whose betrayal of me I had concealed  
    By marrying the old man.
    Then I took morphine and sat down to read.
    Across the blackness that came over my eyes
    I see the flickering light of these words even now:
    “And Jesus said unto him, Verily  
    I say unto thee, To-day thou shalt  
    Be with me in paradise.”

    Commentary on “Julia Miller”

    Edgar Lee Master’s American-Innovative sonnet reveals a troubled woman who leaves the world with the words of Jesus flickering before her eyes.  The sonnet remains quite minimalist in its execution.  The speaker reveals several pertinent facts about herself but little by way any of in depth thought about her history.

    First Movement:  Quarreling with an Old Man

    We quarreled that morning,
    For he was sixty-five, and I was thirty,
    And I was nervous and heavy with the child
    Whose birth I dreaded.

    In Masters’ first movement, which corresponds to the first octave quatrain of the Italian sonnet, the speaker begins cryptically by asserting, “[w]e quarreled that morning.” She then reveals that it is an old man with whom she has quarreled, “[f]or he was sixty-five, and I was thirty.”  But she seems not to want to reveal too much too soon.

    Julia, however, continues to disclose that she is quite far along in pregnancy and that she was not happy about giving birth to this child; in fact, she says that she dreads the coming birth.  At this point, the reader might assume that the young woman is an unwed woman and has quarreled with her own father. 

    Second Movement:  Speculation

    I thought over the last letter written me
    By that estranged young soul
    Whose betrayal of me I had concealed  
    By marrying the old man.

    The second movement, which echoes the second quatrain in the octave of the Italian sonnet, unlocks the mystery that Julia has been slowly narrating.  She reveals that she had been thinking about “the last letter written me” by a young man, whom she describes as “that estranged young soul.”

    It turns out that Julia married the old man, with whom she has just quarreled, to cover up the fact that this “estranged young soul” had impregnated her and then deserted her.   Had Julia admitted to the old man her true reason for becoming his wife?  She allows the listener only to speculate.

    Third Movement:  Suicide

    Then I took morphine and sat down to read.
    Across the blackness that came over my eyes
    I see the flickering light of these words even now:

    The third movement then takes its form from the first tercet of the sextet of the Italian sonnet form.   In this movement, Julia reports that she has taken morphine “and sat down to read.”  She is committing suicide, and as she waits for death, she sees “the flickering light” of some words.  And she asserts that even after death, she still continues to see those words.

    Fourth Movement:  Flickering Words

    “And Jesus said unto him, Verily  
    I say unto thee, To-day thou shalt  
    Be with me in paradise.”

    The final movement, which completes the Italianesque echo of the second tercet of the sextet, features the Bible verse with which Julia Miller leaves this world. From the Bible verse, the implication arises that Julia feels rather optimistic about her journey after death as she takes the words of Jesus the Christ with her:

    And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (KJV Luke 23:43)

    In addition to fixing the text into three lines, Masters’ made only two other small changes to the quotation: he inserts a hyphen in the word “Today,” and then he reverses the order from the original “shalt thou” to “thou shalt.”

    A Chosen Few

    One might speculate that Masters wanted to infuse certain narrators with a more poetic spirit than others; thus he employs certain poetic forms to reveal those individuals.   Oddly enough, it seems that “Julia Miller” is one of those chosen few.  Masters’ choices, as he dramatizes his characters, could infuse and inform a marvelous character-study of not only the speakers in the epitaphs but also of Edgar Lee Masters himself.

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Flossie Cabanis”

    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters -  Alchetron https://alchetron.com/Edgar-Lee-Masters
    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters –  Alchetron

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Flossie Cabanis”

    Flossie Cabanis bemoans two great failures in her life:  fame as a Broadway star and a relationship with a rising “romantic actor.”

    Introduction and Text of “Flossie Cabanis”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Flossie Cabanis” from his American classic Spoon River Anthology features a drama queen who wishes that “Duse could stand amid the pathos / Of these quiet fields / And read these words.”

    Flossie alludes to the Italian actress, Eleonora Duse, who was noted for making lavish, sweeping statements, such as “If I had my will, I would live in a ship on the sea and never come nearer to humanity than that!”

     Flossie Cabanis 

    From Bindle’s opera house in the village  
    To Broadway is a great step.
    But I tried to take it, my ambition fired
    When sixteen years of age,  
    Seeing “East Lynne” played here in the village
    By Ralph Barrett, the coming
    Romantic actor, who enthralled my soul.  
    True, I trailed back home, a broken failure,
    When Ralph disappeared in New York,  
    Leaving me alone in the city—
    But life broke him also.  
    In all this place of silence  
    There are no kindred spirits.
    How I wish Duse could stand amid the pathos  
    Of these quiet fields
    And read these words.

    Commentary on “Flossie Cabanis”

    Flossie Cabanis bemoans two great failures in her life:  fame as a Broadway star and a relationship with a rising “romantic actor.”

    First Movement:  Broadway a Big Step

    From Bindle’s opera house in the village  
    To Broadway is a great step.

    Flossie reports that there is a great difference in stature between “Broadway” and “Bindle’s opera house,” the local playhouse in Spoon River.  She calls that difference a “great step.” 

    Second Movement:   Stage Stirred Her Soul

    But I tried to take it, my ambition fired
    When sixteen years of age,  
    Seeing “East Lynne” played here in the village
    By Ralph Barrett, the coming
    Romantic actor, who enthralled my soul.  

    The fact that the step was great, however, did not stop Flossie from making the effort by taking that step.  Her ambition was made itself known and became very strong when she was sixteen years old.   At that young age, Flossie attended the play “East Lynne” featuring Ralph Barrett, who was a rising star of stage.  This “romantic actor” stirred this ambition in her soul.

    Third Movement:  New York Ordeal?

    True, I trailed back home, a broken failure,
    When Ralph disappeared in New York,  
    Leaving me alone in the city—

    Completely skipping over her ordeal in New York, Flossie admits that she relocated back to Spoon River and considered herself “a broken failure.”  Not only did she fail in pursuing her acting career, but she also failed to hold on to a relationship with Ralph.  

    She reports that Ralph “disappeared in New York.”  Flossie was thus left alone to fend for herself in New York City.   She has not given any indication about how long she had remained in New York.  Her only focus is on her failures.

    Fourth Movement:  A Failing Pair

    But life broke him also.  
    In all this place of silence  
    There are no kindred spirits.

    Flossie then confides that not only was she a “broken failure,” but so was Ralph.  She does not elaborate, but she does offer a pregnant silence that allows her listener to imagine the pain and disappointment of both would-be stars.

    Flossie then describes Spoon River as a “place of silence” where there exist for her “no kindred spirits.”  Her ambition could not be realized in such a place, for she found no one with whom she could confide or share.

    Fifth Movement:  A Sense of Drama

    How I wish Duse could stand amid the pathos  
    Of these quiet fields
    And read these words.

    The one quality that Flossie continues to retain is her sense of drama.  She expresses the desire to have the melodramatic Italian actress Eleonora Duse stand out in the fields surrounding Spoon River and deliver her lament.  For Flossie those fields are filled with “pathos.”  

    Minimalist Sketch

    Flossie’s minimalist sketch leaves much to the imagination of her listener/reader.  It is only through very broad hints that the reader can interpret Flossie’s true ambitions.   It is possible that her only ambition was to become and remain the mate of Ralph Barrett as he pursued the heights of stardom on the stage.

    Thus it is quite likely that she had no real aspirations of following an acting career for herself.   However, by introducing and alluding to the famous Italian actress, she seems to be presenting Duse as her rôle model; the reader may, therefore, infer that Flossie’s ambition was two-fold:  she wanted both an acting career and a relationship with Barrett but failed at both.

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Percy Bysshe Shelley”

    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters - Portrait by Francis J. Quirk https://francisquirk.blogspot.com/2017/03/visit-to-national-portrait-gallery.html
    Image:  Edgar Lee Masters – Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Percy Bysshe Shelley”

    The speaker in Edgar Lee Masters’ “Percy Bysshe Shelley” dramatizes the relationship between his father and himself, and those differences were vast and deep.

    Introduction and Text of “Percy Bysshe Shelley”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Percy Bysshe Shelley” from his American classic Spoon River Anthology consists of five tercets, each constructing its own movement and rendering this character-poem named for a poet one of the most highly structured of all the Spoon River poem offerings. The poem creates a drama, featuring the odd relationship between a father and son.

    The father had great aspirations for his son, but Percy did not have the mental and spiritual wherewithal to live up to the father’s wishes.  The interesting missing feature from the relationship seems to be any malice.  There is no hint of friction between the two, although they had very different temperaments and desires.

    Percy Bysshe Shelley

    My father who owned the wagon-shop
    And grew rich shoeing horses
    Sent me to the University of Montreal.
    I learned nothing and returned home,
    Roaming the fields with Bert Kessler,
    Hunting quail and snipe.
    At Thompson’s Lake the trigger of my gun
    Caught in the side of the boat
    And a great hole was shot through my heart.
    Over me a fond father erected this marble shaft,
    On which stands the figure of a woman  
    Carved by an Italian artist.  
    They say the ashes of my namesake
    Were scattered near the pyramid of Caius Cestius
    Somewhere near Rome.

    Commentary “Percy Bysshe Shelley”

    In this poem, the speaker is dramatizing a relationship between a father and son, whose differences are many.  But while the relationship seems to have distance, there seems to be no animosity expressed by either father or son.

    First Movement:  Sent to Prestigious University

    My father who owned the wagon-shop
    And grew rich shoeing horses
    Sent me to the University of Montreal.

    Percy announces that his father ran a lucrative “wagon-shop,” earning enough money to send Percy to the “University of Montreal.”  The elder Shelley “grew rich shoeing horses.” 

    The claim sounds rather odd, and perhaps intends to serve as an exaggeration.  While such a shop might keep the owner from poverty, it is not likely that such a business would allow the owner to grow rich.

    Second Movement:  Learned Nothing

    I learned nothing and returned home,
    Roaming the fields with Bert Kessler,
    Hunting quail and snipe.

    In the second tercet, Percy admits that at the prestigious Canadian university, “I learned nothing.”  So after flunking out, he “returned home.”   Percy’s major activity from then on was hunting, “roaming the fields with Bert Kessler.”  They hunted “quail and snipe.”

    Third Movement:  An Accidental Shooting

    At Thompson’s Lake the trigger of my gun
    Caught in the side of the boat
    And a great hole was shot through my heart.

    Percy dies in the middle of his poem.  On one of his hunting expeditions “at Thompson’s Lake,” he is accidentally shot through the heart when “the trigger of [his] gun” becomes “caught in the side of the boat.”   Again, Percy’s penchant for exaggeration emerges, “a great hole was shot through my heart.”

    Fourth Movement:  A Grave Difference

    Over me a fond father erected this marble shaft,
    On which stands the figure of a woman  
    Carved by an Italian artist.  

    Percy’s grave is quite a spectacular sight.  An Italian artist’s “figure of a woman” guards his remains.  His “fond father” had “erected this marble shaft” and had the carving of the woman placed there.  

    The disconnect between the father and son is clearly demonstrated in this movement.  The father’s interests are not the same as the son’s.   Because the son’s only interest was hunting, it would be expected that some hunting related theme might be used to decorate the younger man’s grave.

    Fifth Movement:  A Bit of History

    They say the ashes of my namesake
    Were scattered near the pyramid of Caius Cestius
    Somewhere near Rome.

    Percy then states a bit of historical information regarding the biography of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, “[his] namesake.”   The speaker reveals that the poet’s ashes “were scattered near the pyramid of Caius Cestius / Somewhere near Rome.”

    Lack of Conflict

    The name of this character is quite ironic, but it symbolizes the vast difference between this father and son.  Percy could not even succeed in college, and his main interest was hunting, while the father had great ambitions for his son, beginning with his name and ending with the grave marker sculpted by an Italian artist.

    While most disparities of this nature between father and son lead to a stressful and often volatile relationship, there is no evidence that these two characters resented each other.   Percy remains rather emotionless but refers to his father as “a fond father” and seems very accepting of that fondness.  Percy just reports a few salient facts about this life but does not seem to be aggrieved, as so many of the Spoon River epitaphs reveal.

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Sarah Brown”

    Image: Edgar Lee Masters http://www.poorwilliam.net/al-082314.html Poor William’s Almanack
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters Poor William’s Almanack

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Sarah Brown”

    “Sarah Brown” reveals a genuine character, employing the Buddhist term “Nirvana” to describe her afterlife experience. 

    Introduction and Text of “Sarah Brown”

    The character “Sarah Brown” reveals an acquaintance with Buddhism as she employs the term “Nirvana” to describe her afterlife experience.  As the speaker in Edgar Lee Masters’ “Sarah Brown” from the American classic Spoon River Anthology, she is one of the most positive characters of the lot.  Although it is hinted that she committed adultery, she emphasizes “love” over sex.  

    It was Sarah’s husband who called her love for Maurice “guilty love,” but since her marriage apparently remained intact, it is not clear that she actually experienced a sexual liaison with the grieving Maurice.

    Sarah Brown 

    Maurice, weep not, I am not here under this pine tree.  
    The balmy air of spring whispers through the sweet grass,
    The stars sparkle, the whippoorwill calls,  
    But thou grievest, while my soul lies rapturous
    In the blest Nirvana of eternal light!
    Go to the good heart that is my husband,  
    Who broods upon what he calls our guilty love:—
    Tell him that my love for you, no less than my love for him
    Wrought out my destiny—that through the flesh
    I won spirit, and through spirit, peace.
    There is no marriage in heaven,
    But there is love.

    Commentary on “Sarah Brown”

    The speaker in this epitaph attempts to console her grieving husband who seemed to misunderstand his wife’s spiritual nature.

    First Movement:  Dust to Dust, Not Spoken of the Soul

    Maurice, weep not, I am not here under this pine tree.

    Sarah Brown addresses Maurice, as he mourns at her grave side.  She reveals to him that she is not in the grave “under this pine tree.”

    Second Movement:  As the Soul Sees

    The balmy air of spring whispers through the sweet grass,
    The stars sparkle, the whippoorwill calls,  
    But thou grievest, while my soul lies rapturous
    In the blest Nirvana of eternal light!

    To prove to Maurice that she, that is, her soul, is not confined to the dark, dank hole in the ground, she describes the setting above ground: the stars are out and a bird is singing.  

    She asserts that Maurice is mourning, but she is experiencing a blessed state of ecstasy wrapped in the bliss of “eternal light.”  Sarah Brown exemplifies a Spoon River resident whose soul has evolved to a higher realm than most of the other complaining deceased of the town.

    Instead of railing against the unfairness of the small minded folks among whom she lived, as so many others do, she reveals a very positive, even minded attitude, and she tries only to console those left behind, especially Maurice who has come to her grave to mourn.

    Third Movement:  Winds From the East

    Go to the good heart that is my husband,  
    Who broods upon what he calls our guilty love:—

    After attempting to relieve Maurice’s grief, Sarah Brown commands him to go to her husband who is smarting because he thought of Sarah’s affection for Maurice as “guilty love.”

    Sarah describes her husband as “the good heart” and continues to think of him as her husband still, even though she has departed earth, and despite the claim she later makes in the final movement.  

    Another indication that Sarah Brown is influenced by Eastern philosophical thought is that she focuses primarily on action in the present tense—the “eternal now”—as referred to in Buddhism.

    Fourth Movement:  Heightened Awareness

    Tell him that my love for you, no less than my love for him
    Wrought out my destiny—that through the flesh
    I won spirit, and through spirit, peace.

    Sarah Brown then reveals the message she wishes Maurice to deliver to her husband.  She wants her husband to know that her love for both men has been instrumental in shaping who she has become, that is, that love has “wrought out [her] destiny.”

    She clarifies that “through the flesh / [she] won spirit, and through spirit, peace.”  Her infidelity was no mere ordinary dalliance prompted by greed, but because of her heightened awareness, played a rôle in leading her soul to divine awareness.

    Fifth Movement:  Love Cannot Be Confined

    There is no marriage in heaven,
    But there is love.

    Finally, Sarah Brown reveals that “There is no marriage in heaven / But there is love.”  Sarah Brown became a free spirit while living and thus concludes from heaven that if love is supreme in the afterlife, then marriage cannot confine love while on the earth plane.

  • Edgar Lee Masters’ “Andy the Night-Watch”

    Image: Edgar Lee Masters https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/inductees/profile/edgar-lee-masters
    Image: Edgar Lee Masters – Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Andy the Night-Watch”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Andy the Night-Watch” remains one of the more pleasant accounts, as Andy reports his simple duties as a Spoon River security guard.

    Introduction and Text of “Andy the Night-Watch”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Andy the Night-Watch” from the American classic Spoon River Anthology features a night watchman who mentions another Spoon River resident Doc Hill in his report.   Andy’s account is straight forward without the innuendos that accompany many of the reports.  Andy is philosophical about his lot, seeing himself in a long line of men who have performed his job of night watchman for Spoon River.

    Interestingly, because Andy encounters Doc Hill in his nightly duties, he supports the physician’s claim made in his epitaph that he had gone about Spoon River both night and day caring for the sick.  Andy passes no moral judgment on the doc.  

    And Andy reveals no moral turpitude as so many of these characters do. Andy’s apparent guilelessness makes him one of the most appealing characters of the Spoon River citizens.  Most want to excuse their own sins while blaming others for them.

    Therefore, Andy’s epitaph surfaces as one of the more pleasant accounts, as he reports the simple duties he performed as a Spoon River security guard.   Andy’s only purpose is to offer a brief report about how he spent his time and to contrast his purpose on earth with his current tranquility, which he seems to appreciate.

    Andy the Night-Watch 

    In my Spanish cloak,
    And old slouch hat,
    And overshoes of felt,
    And Tyke, my faithful dog,
    And my knotted hickory cane,
    I slipped about with a bull’s-eye lantern
    From door to door on the square,
    As the midnight stars wheeled round,
    And the bell in the steeple murmured  
    From the blowing of the wind;
    And the weary steps of old Doc Hill
    Sounded like one who walks in sleep,
    And a far-off rooster crew.  
    And now another is watching Spoon River
    As others watched before me.
    And here we lie, Doc Hill and I
    Where none breaks through and steals,
    And no eye needs to guard.

    Commentary on “Andy the Night-Watch”

    Edgar Lee Masters’ “Andy the Night-Watch” reports his simple duties as a Spoon River security guard and then makes an interesting statement of comparison between his earthly life and his after-life.

    First Movement:  A Guard’s Accessories

    In my Spanish cloak,
    And old slouch hat,
    And overshoes of felt,
    And Tyke, my faithful dog,
    And my knotted hickory cane,

    Andy first describes his clothing and accessories, reporting that he wore a cloak which he describes as “Spanish.”  He donned a hat which was of the old and slouch variety. Finally, he wore overshoes made of felt—likely so he could amble about quietly on his nightly duties.

    For company and possible security assistance, Andy kept his companion pet dog Tyke along with him.  And he also carried a cane made of “knotted hickory.”  Such are the simple necessities for a night watchman in the small town of Spoon River.  Apparently, there was no need for a weapon other than the hickory cane.  

    Second Movement:  A Guard’s Duties

    I slipped about with a bull’s-eye lantern
    From door to door on the square,
    As the midnight stars wheeled round,
    And the bell in the steeple murmured  
    From the blowing of the wind;

    After cataloguing his accessories, Andy then proceeds to report his duties.  But before mentioning his duties, he inserts a further item, a lantern with a bull’s eye, to fill out the list of accessories that he either carried or wore.

    Andy describes his movement as “slip[ping] about,” likely indicating that he moved slowly as he checked the status of each door to the businesses and offices in town.  Most nights he was fortunate that not much seemed to be happening, so he was free to notice the “midnight stars” that “wheeled around.”  

    He also notes that he listened to “the bell in the steeple,” which he describes as making a murmuring sound as the wind blew past.  Again, Andy is demonstrating a calm, appreciative individual whose demeanor contrasts greatly with so many of the angry, vengeful after-life reporters from the Spoon River Cemetery.

    Third Movement:    Old Doc Hill

    And the weary steps of old Doc Hill
    Sounded like one who walks in sleep,
    And a far-off rooster crew.  

    It is in the third movement that Andy mentions “old Doc Hill,” whom the reader has previously encountered among these Spoon River after-death reporters.    Andy would hear the doctor’s “weary steps,” and Andy claims that those steps made it seem that the doctor might be walking in his sleep.  Likely, the shuffling sound put Andy in mind of sleep-walkers.

    Andy then mentions that he heard a far-off rooster crowing, which suggests that it is close to dawn.  The implication supports Doc Hill’s report that he went about caring for the sick all through the night.

    Fourth Movement:   Now Someone Else Guards

    And now another is watching Spoon River
    As others watched before me.
    And here we lie, Doc Hill and I
    Where none breaks through and steals,
    And no eye needs to guard.

    Andy then returns to his present circumstances wherein he, with a touch of melancholy, avers that someone else is now performing his night job of “watching Spoon River.”   And Andy places himself in the long line of history; the new person is watching “as others watched before me,” he philosophically opines.

    Both Andy and Doc Hill are now in their graves where no medical attention is required and where no one will break in to steal from rightful owners.  No one needs “to guard” anything in this final resting place.

    Andy has successfully compared his earthly duties to his duties in his current circumstance by simply stating the fact that no one ever breaks into things in the after-life world to steal things.  Thus, in that place, it is not necessary to have men who watch the night, which can become a dangerous, crime infested time on earth among the living.