Spoon River Anthology Literary Paper.
The Spoon River Anthology, written by, Edgar Lee Masters assembled a series of short poems, in which the characters speak from the grave about the hardships they experienced. this is noticeable in the poem "Judge Somers" , whom speaks from the grave about how he lies there forgotten although of his social status. meanwhile the town drunk lies underneath a extravagant marble tombstone topped with an urn. This poem is about a judge, who had a successful career and a positive influence on the community, but he lies in an unmarked grave forgotten. The theme of the poem is how people will often forget about those who have been important in local communities, or even the nation.
Edgar Lee Masters was born in Garnett, Kansas. His parents were Hardin Wallace Masters a lawyer, and Emma J. Dexter daughter of a New.
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England minister.Edgar was educated in the public schools of Petersburg and Lewis town. Masters also wrote a volume of poems set on the Illinois prairies, He also attempted to write a fiction novel and a biographical novel about his life growing up in Illinois. Masters received several awards through out the 1940's for his poetry. Masters was not just a writer. he also was a Lawyer at one time. His writings have provided a different view especially in the Spoon River Anthology, where normally at funerals when people give eulogies that state how great peoples lives were, however Masters tells the truth about how tough peoples lives were.
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The poem of "Judge Somers," is set in a mythical town, at Spoon River. Masters uses the cemetery on the hill as the setting which brings the characters in the anthology together. This is the place from which the characters discuss their lives, and this helps us understand that Spoon River is working class town, where the people who have experienced hardships and difficulties in their lives.
