7. Serepta Mason

There is a link between this epitaph and that of Cassius Hueffer, which immediately precedes it. This link is to be found in the use of the word “fool”, used in the same way in both poems. Hueffer accuses the engraver of his tombstone of being a fool, as Mason accuses the the townsfolk generally of being fools for lacking the wisdom to see the “ways of the wind” or perceive the “unseen forces” she claims govern life.

It is a feature of Spoon River Anthology that there be short series of poems - sometimes members of a family offering differing perceptions of how things had been in life, sometimes individuals caught up in the same events accusing or defending. Hueffer and Mason are connected only in their bitterness for the townsfolk of Spoon River. But this link is vital to a full understanding of the poems. If each is taken separately, they appear little more than the whinings of the departed attempting one last time to get the living to listen. Together, though, they force us to wonder at their accusations and consider whether there might be some justification in calling the folks of Spoon River “fools”!

The two epitaphs are, in most respects, opposites. Whereas Hueffer was a man who could only be finally tamed after death by being sealed in his tomb with words designed to prevent any part of his lingering spirit being loosed upon the world, Mason was constrained in life by the “bitter wind” which stunted her petals. We actually know what words were used to confine Hueffer, as he tells us what was engraved on his stone, whereas we only have Serepta alluding to the viciousness of the unseeing - and, therefore, uncaring - people of Spoon River. Serepta Mason’s complaint is that her neighbours never saw her “flowering side”. Rather, they saw only that side of her stunted by the bitter wind. It might be argued that the good folk of Spoon River saw - or heard - rather too much of Cassius Hueffer.

Depending how we read Serepta Mason’s epitaph, we might, at this point, feel inclined to dismiss her as a bitter shrew seeking only to absolve herself as the cause of her own misery by accusing all and sundry. 

We cannot, however, ignore the simple fact that there was another side to Serepta; a deeper, more philosophical side, which perceives currents of life invisible to her more mundane neighbours. We don’t know why Serepta was unable to stand up to those who stunted her growth - as did Cassius Hueffer - but we can’t remain ignorant of the power of that wind which prevented her growth. Serepta Morgan isn’t the only bitter, weak person residing on the Hill. The very next epitaph, that of Amanda Barker, continues this series, adding weight to Serepta’s view that the people of Spoon River wilfully turned their gaze away, cruelly oblivious to the cost to others of their neglect. The epitaph engraved upon Cassius Hueffer’s stone is proof enough that the people of Spoon River saw only what they wanted to see.

And damn anyone who disturbed that view!