The New Spoon River

Edgar Lee Masters

Introduction-Willis B

Macmillan Pub. Co.

Spoon River Anthology: An Annotated Edition

One of the most striking and original achievements in American poetry is now available in a remarkable edition that comprehends the poet and his book in an entirely new way. This edition of Spoon River Anthology probes the social background of the smalltown world that Edgar Lee Masters loved and hated--and finally transmuted into powerful literary art. Extensive annotations identify the people whose lives inspired the 243 poetic accounts of frustration, violence, struggle, and triumph that once shocked American readers. The most extraordinary feature of this edition is the extensive introduction that provides the key to this misunderstood American classic. The book's relationship to Whitman is clearly established, and the important influences of Browning, Goethe, Spinoza, and others are revealed for the first time. John Hallwas's approach combines cultural, biographical, philosophical, psychoanalytic, mythic, and symbolic insights--and concludes with a stunning reassessment of "Our New Poet." The annotated Spoon River Anthology supersedes 75 years of largely misdirected critical commentary. It will send a new generation of readers back to this surprisingly complex book that probes so deeply into the American consciousness--and will send Masters back into our national anthologies.

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

University of Illinois Press

Excerpt from Dramatic Duologues: Four Short Plays in VerseThe scene is an ante-chamber in the palace. Henry is seated so that the full, red seriousness of his gross and power ful face fronts the audience. His hands are upon his knees which he occasionally pats while meditating. He is mum bling to himself, moving his lips as he does so. Ann enters in anxiety, almost terror, and nearly ready to give away to tears. Henry does not turn his head or notice her.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Dramatic Duologues: Four Short Plays in Verse (Classic Reprint)

Dramas & Plays

Forgotten Books

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Spoon River Anthology

Franklin Classics Trade Press

Poetry

In Spoon River Anthology, the American poet Edgar Lee Masters (1869–1950) created a series of compelling free-verse monologues in which former citizens of a mythical Midwestern town speak touchingly from the grave of the thwarted hopes and dream of their lives. First published in book form in 1915, the Anthology was the crowning achievement of Masters' career as a poet, and a work that would become a landmark of 20th-century American literature. In these pages, no less than 214 individual voices are heard — some in no more than a dozen moving lines. Alternately plaintive, anguished, enigmatic, angry, and contemptuous, the voices of Spoon River, although distinctively small-town Americans, evoke themes of love and hope, disappointment and despair that are universal in their resonance. This American classic is reprinted here from the authoritative 1915 edition.

Spoon River Anthology (Dover Thrift Editions: Poetry)

United States

Dover Publications

Charles Aidman, conceived from Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology
Dramatic Platform Readings w/incidental music, songs 
Characters: 3 male, 2 femaleBare Stage.Via musical interludes, we are introduced in a cemetery to the ghosts of those who were inhabitants of this town, and whose secrets have gone with them to the grave. There are 60 odd characterizations and vignettes in this constantly interesting entertainment offering an amazingly varied array of roles and impersonations, from young lovers and preachers and teachers to the funny chronicle of the poor mixed up Jew who ends up in the wrong cemetery. Both the solid and humorous sides of life are portrayed, with fetching ballads, and the free verse form of Masters. 
"A dramatic presentation reduced to its simplest terms. . . . moving and beautiful. . . . An evening of astonishingly stirring emotional satisfaction." -N.Y. Post 
 "A glowing theatre experience. . . . A brooding and loving American folk poem brought to life on a stage."-N.Y. Times

Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology

Concord Theatricals

A CLASSIC IN AMERICAN POETRY... When Spoon River Anthology was published in 1915 it garnered immediate national attention for its truth and its shocking transgression of societal mores. A collection of poems from the graveyard of a rural Illinois town, Spoon River Anthology poignantly captures the politics, love, betrayals, alliances, hopes, and failures of this small American town. Here is the respected doctor, jailed for swindling; here is the chaste wife, rapt with desire; here is the pastor, angry and resentful; here is the quiet man, filled with unrequited love and devotion. Beneath the midwestern values of honesty, community, family, hard work, and chastity, Spoon River Anthology reveals the disillusionment and corruption in modern life. With the publication of Spoon River Anthology Masters exploded the powerful myth that small-town America was a social utopia. Here for the first time was a community that people recognized in its wholeness and complexity. Comprised of distinctly modern poems that collectively read as a novel, Spoon River Anthology is the story of a quiet midwestern town whose truths and contradictions are celebrated by its dead.

Perfection Learning

A lost classic rediscovered and expanded, with a new introduction, new photographs, and other new materials. Written in 1931 by one of America's most highly respected poets and scholars, this book has been hidden away for over 50 years. From the beautifully written text of this lost book, the true causes of the War Between the States emerge more clearly than ever before. Written by Edgar Lee Masters, the famous author of Spoon River Anthology (who was a native of Illinois), the scholarship in this book was able to withstand the most vicious attacks. In fact, as you will learn from the new introduction, the U.S. Congress actually attempted to ban Lincoln The Man, which was offered to the public only once in a brief first edition. Now the Foundation for American Education has produced a new edition of Lincoln The Man for the first time in over half a century, with a new introduction that puts it all into perspective. Lincoln The Man is both a collector’s item and a book that must be read by anyone who wants to understand the causes of the War and the true nature of Lincoln’s legacy (as well as by readers who admire the unique literary gifts of Edgar Lee Masters). Included in this new edition is a collection of rare photographs and the text of reviews not published since the 1930s, by H.L. Mencken, Andrew Nelson Lytle, and others. “Seldom have I read so brilliant a picture of the decay of the old American spirit.... The writing here is so eloquent as to be genuinely moving.... The American people, North and South, went into the war as citizens of their respective states, they came out as subjects.... And what they thus lost they have never got back.” --H.L. Mencken “An intensely interesting, arresting, challenging, book....” --Claude Bowers “...the Lincoln myth is definitely a bad myth, and Mr. Masters deserves credit for shattering it...” --Andrew Nelson Lytle

Lincoln the Man

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

The Foundation for American Education

IndyPublish

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Edgar Lee Masters. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Edgar Lee Masters

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Edgar Lee Masters. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The New Spoon River

Spoon River Anthology: An Annotated Edition

Dramatic Duologues: Four Short Plays in Verse (Classic Reprint)

Spoon River Anthology

Spoon River Anthology

Spoon River Anthology (Dover Thrift Editions: Poetry)

Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology

Spoon River Anthology

Lincoln the Man

Spoon River Anthology