Spoon River Anthology

The Spoon River Anthology (1916) by Edgar Lee Masters is an unusual collection of very short free-form poems that collectively describe the life of the fictional small town of Spoon River.

Related Topics:
1916 - Edgar Lee Masters

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Each poem is an epitaph of a dead citizen, delivered by the dead themselves. They speak about the sorts of things one might expect. Some recite their histories and turning points, others make observations of life from the outside, petty ones complain of the treatment of their graves. Speaking without reason to lie or fear of the consequences, they construct a picture of life in their town that's shorn of all facades. The interplay of various villagers - e.g. a bright and succesful man crediting his parents for all he's accomplished, and an old woman weeping because he is secretly her illegitimate child - forms a gripping if not pretty whole.

Related Topics:
Epitaph - Grave - Lie - Facade

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The subject of afterlife receives only the occasional brief mention, and even those seem to be contradictory.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~