Spoon River Anthology

Edgar Lee Masters was a very famous Regionalist and Realist writer known best for his famed Spoon River Anthology. This collection of stories and poems speaks very deeply about the region he grew up in as well as tells universal truths that everyone can relate to. Here is a piece from one of the many poems in the book, titled “The Hill”:

“Where are Elmer, Herman, Bert, Tom, and Charley,
The weak of will, the strong of arm, the clown, the boozer, the fighter?
All, all are sleeping on the hill.

One passed in a fever,
One was burned in a mine,
One was killed in a brawl,
One died in a jail,
One fell from a bridge toiling for children and wife-
All, all are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping on the hill” (Masters).

The wonderful thing about this poem, and also about Edgar Lee Masters, is that while this poem has its Realist properties and was written for those situations happening to people in the late 19th century, it is at the same time a classical theme that has relevancy until the end of time, for there is no one yet who has managed to cheat death’s touch entirely. Everyone dies, and thus Edgar Lee Masters writes on a subject that touches everyone, regardless of race, sex, or creed.

So, as it was said, this part of the poem is about death because it becomes obvious very quickly that the line “sleeping on the hill” figuratively means that they are being laid in a grave on the hill (Masters). Also, as it was said before, the subject of death makes the poem relevant to everyone, and this gives this excerpt its Realist quality. It also contains some Regionalism found in the line, “One was burned in a mine” (Masters). Edgar Lee Masters grew up in central Illinois, near towns like Petersburg and Springfield, and mining was a common occupation in that area back in the 19th century. It was also very dangerous, however, so many people met their deaths in the mines due to natural gas or cave ins. Making one of the deaths as death in a mine, then, gives this excerpt a taste of central Illinois.

“Lo! [Old Fiddler Jones] babbles of the fish-frys of long ago,
Of the horse races of long ago at Clary’s Grove,
Of what Abe Lincoln said
One time at Springfield” (Masters).

This excerpt, however, provides even more of a Regionalist flare to the poem. Fish frys were and still are a common way of getting friends and family together for some quality time in central Illinois since there are an abundance of lakes and rivers near Petersburg. Also, Abraham Lincoln is something that is very Regionalistic, as the area takes great pride in the fact that one of the country’s greatest presidents got his start in the humble and agrarian area of central Illinois. Therefore, both of these facts, maybe not all too noticeable, give the reader somewhat of an idea of what central Illinois is like, making this poem not only a Realist piece with universal themes, but a Regionalist poem as well.

Works Cited

Masters, Edgar Lee. "Spoon River Anthology." EReader.com. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. www.eReader.com.