Edgar Lee Masters August 18, March 5, 1950

Childhood Born on August 23 rd, 1868 in Garnett, Kansas but grew up in Petersburg and Lewiston, Illinois Briefly attended Knox College but could not afford to stay Studied law with his father’s law office. As a young man with literary ambitions, he found small- town life oppressive. “I feel that no poet in English or American history had a harder life than mine was in the beginning at Lewistown among a people whose flesh and vibrations were better calculated to poison, to pervert, and even to kill a sensitive nature.” – autobiography

Lewiston home

Adulthood Moved to Chicago when he was 23 Became the partner of a leading criminal lawyer Particularly interested in helping the poor and disadvantaged Married in 1898 and had three children Able to give up practicing law in 1920 and devote himself to writing None of his later works were as successful as Spoon River Anthology Died March 5, 1950 and was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Petersburg, Illinois

Realism Meter was used less often, though “blank verse” (unrhymed meter) was also used Rhyming was used less also Realism tried to scientifically show the world as it really was Nature was no longer seen as helpful to human beings – no longer seemed to care The struggles of common folk and the lower classes were the subjects of art

Spoon River Anthology Inspired by Epigrams from the Greek Anthology, a collection of short Greek poems (many of them epitaphs) that sum up individual lives “This is the site of the Cyprian, since it is agreeable to her to look ever from the mainland upon the bright sea that she may make the voyage good for sailors. Around her the sea trembles looking upon her polished image.”

Spoon River Anthology Set in the cemetery in the town of “Spoon River” (a combination of Petersburg, Lewiston, and the surrounding area) In short, free-verse poems, the dead citizens comment on their lives Since they are dead, they feel free to tell the truth about their relationships with each other and the often-shady dealings of the town

Oak Hill Cemetery

Spoon River Anthology The 212 different characters are varied –A few are content with lives well lived –Many others were bitter, frustrated victims of life with spiritual and emotional scars –The poems weave themselves together and mention similar events from different perspectives – adding insight into the secret lives, interests, and fears of the townsfolk. -- Many of characters were based on people Masters knew in the two towns in which he grew up, which caused embarrassment in those towns when the Anthology was published

Credits