Thoughts of Spoon River

We have already seen, in the marriage of the McGee’s, that the state of matramony is no heaven-sent blessing. We should not be unduly surprised, then, at the state of play between the Pantiers - that Benjamin has been driven from his own house by a wife who finds him disgusting. The soap opera that is the series of poems dealing with the Pantiers would appear bathetic, coming straight after Kinsey Keene’s inspiring call to arms against all that corrupts the heart of Spoon River, if not for one simple fact. The series of five poems makes clear for us, firstly, that the grossest kinds of corruption lie in the hearts of ordinary men and women, not just the high officials of the town. Yet, they further reveal, there is hope that the most wanton wastrel may be brought to change his ways if only those who believe remain faithful. And, finally, we are shown that it is not the Anthology’s organisation that results in bathos; it is life itself. Benjamin Pantier, then, is guilty of not...