Excerpts from "Spoon River Anthology" - Edgar Lee Masters

"Lucinda Matlock" is a story about a man who goes to dances. He meets a girl and marries her where they live happily for eighty years. They raise their children and lose eight of them, but they are still happy because "it takes life to love Life" (Master "Lucinda" 516). True, this story is about real life, but I do not believe this poem could fit into the literary genre of realism. My first thought is this man's life has not happened yet because it talks of his death and how he was ninety six years old when he entered tranquility. He also romanticizing his life. Yes, I believe one is entitled to a happy life, but when you lose two thirds of your children, there has to be some sadness in your life. I am sure this narrator was sad, but he does not mention it which leads one to make conclusions about his life. I do believe he and his wife had great lives and were happy, but to me this just does not entirely fit into realism. It does fit into the regionalism however because it is all about a region in Illinois. It talks of Chandlerville and Winchester and the Spoon River, which are all things around this area of Illinois. It has the primary characteristics of this region, which according to Mary Rose Kasraie, makes "Lucinda Matlock" fit into regionalism. The American Dream of this poem would be having a family, having a job, a home, and "Life." The dream is to be happy with the ones around you and to make a living farming, be successful and live with the people you love. It is a happy dream.

"Fiddler Jones" is a story that is kind of motivational. Also by Edgar Lee Masters, this is about a man who did nothing but has no regrets. It is a confusing poem that has mixed meanings. It first talks about a fiddle, symbolizing the enjoyment of life, then it says, "And I never started to plow in my life that some one did not stop in the road and take me away to a dance or picnic. I ended up with forty acres; I ended up with a broken fiddle -- and a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, and not a single regret" (Masters"Fiddler" 517). To me, I do not know what this means. I do not know what he did with his life. It says he had a broken fiddle and never farmed, so I can not tell you what happened with him. This would fit into the realism category because he is depicting his life. The narrator tells us he did not plow, he ended up with a broken fiddle, and he regretted nothing. This is confusing, but he does depict his life. I would say there is also a major use of figurative language in this poem. This would be the fiddle. "And if the people find you can fiddle, Why, fiddle you must, for all your life" (Masters "Fiddler" 517). To me, this fiddle represents enjoying life, which one should do all their life. This is just the dream of one in this time period, which it sounds like the narrator did.



Kasraie, Mary Rose. "local color." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.


Masters, Edgar Lee. "Fiddler Jones." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 517. Print.


Masters, Edgar Lee. "Lucinda Matlock." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 516. Print.


Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.