Thoughts of Spoon River

We cannot but take notice when an Anthology of ‘spoken’ epitaphs opens, after the introductory first poem, with the words, “Here I lie…”. These words must cause us to ponder the veracity of what we are about to ‘hear’. Inevitably, because the poems are spoken from each individual’s point of view, there is bound to be discrepancies, contradictions and, possibly, flat-out-lies. Hod Putt appears to be saying something straightforwardly simple: “Here I am in my grave, next to that of Old Bill Pierol.” As we read the poem, however, we begin to realise the irony implies things are not quite so simple as we first thought. Notice, for instance, that Hod doesn’t actually place himself in a grave. Old Bill Piersol is in a grave and Hod tells us he lies close by. It is evident that Hod is indeed in his grave, though he refuses to be quite so specific about his own location. It is easier for Hod to acknowledge Old Bill Piersol’s situation than his own. Despite his matter-of-fact relating of ...

Even a quick perusal of the titles of the 243 epitaphs of ‘ Spoon River Anthology ’ reveals a staggering male bias. Just from the titles alone, without reading the underlying poems, there are a whopping 187 poems readily identifiable as ‘male’. This, in contrast to just 54 poems recognisably ‘female’ and, of these, ten of the women have no given name, being referred to only in relation to their marital status. Even in death, it seems, the womenfolk lacked a voice. If we take Masters at his word when he says he would “draw the macrocosm by portraying the microcosm”, we can read this dearth of female voices as reflective of the time and place rather than a sign of misogyny on the poet’s part. That there are so many women who lack a given name of their own – Mrs. Benjamin Pantier , Mrs. Charles Bliss and Mrs. George Reece among others – is not a sign that Edgar Lee Masters had a policy of ‘ disappearing ’ women from the register of life so much as a reflection of the reality...

Edgar Lee Masters ‘Spoon River Anthology’ (1915) In the opening poem of ‘ Spoon River Anthology ’, Edgar Lee Masters mentions a female character by the name of Sevigne Houghton. This is the only mention of this particular character as she, like many mentioned in ‘ The Hill ’, has no epitaph of her own. Nevertheless, she should not pass unnoticed. ‘Sevigne’ is not, it seems, a given name. It’s most well-known usage is as part of the title of a revered French writer of letters from the 17 th Century – Marie de Rabutin-Chantel, marquise de Sévigné . The Sévigné of which she is the marquise is an area of Northwestern France – Cesson-Sévigné, a residential area for the middle-class. But, apparently, even in France, it is not used as a given name. The closest variant that is so used is the Lithuanian ‘ Svajonė ’, which means ‘dream’. Given that Sevigne Houghton, along with all the other characters mentioned in this poem, is ‘sleeping on the hill’, it may not be accidental that Mas...