Edgar Lee Masters

Narrating the epitaphs of the citizens of the fictional town of Spoon River, named after the Spoon River, which flowed near the author's home town. It is a collection of 244 free verse poems in which the lives and deaths of 212 characters are told.

"Edgar Masters intention when he composed these verses was to demystify the culture of small town America. Over the decades prior to this anthology's publication in 1915, rural and urban cultures in the USA had diverged considerably: to many city-dwellers, how life in the country actually proceeded was simply unknown. Originally serialized in a magazine named Reedy's Mirror, each of the poems give the reader insight into the lives, events, and culture...

Through the years, these famous and familiar poems have captured the imagination, heart, and soul of readers who have often committed them to memory. It may be a complete poem, a stanza, or a single memorable line that makes these poems famous and familiar. Here you will find the familiar sonnets of Shakespeare and beloved poems from Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Re-read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Paul...