Life, love and literature

I went to the dances at Chandlerville, 

And played snap-out at Winchester. 

One time we changed partners, 

Driving home in the moonlight of middle June, 

And then I found Davis. 

We were married and lived together for seventy years, 

Enjoying, working, raising the twelve children, 

Eight of whom we lost 

Ere I had reached the age of sixty. 

I spun, I wove, I kept the house, I nursed the sick, 

I made the garden, and for holiday 

Rambled over the fields where sang the larks, 

And by Spoon River gathering many a shell, 

And many a flower and medicinal weed — 

Shouting to the wooded hills, singing to the green valleys. 

At ninety-six I had lived enough, that is all, 

And passed to a sweet repose. 

What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness, 

Anger, discontent and drooping hopes? 

Degenerate sons and daughters, 

Life is too strong for you — 

It takes life to love Life.

Well since my blog is forever about literature and life and love, one of the absolutely best books to be printed that involved all of these concepts is a collection by an author who published SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY and enjoyed a degree of success not often awarded to books of poetry – financial success that is . He wrote a collection of poems as epitaphs of the 200 or so people who inhabited the fictional town of Spoon River .The town described was Lewiston . Because they are all dead and buried in the cemetery called The Hill , they can speak freely and frankly about their lives- they reveal their darkest secrets and fear no judgment. Masters meant it as a novel , but one has to work hard to connect   all of the epitaphs to tell the story of the town as the inhabitants live their lives.  It is fascinating to see just how human they really are ! He spared almost no one from having a darkness and hypocrisy in their daily lives . The one who was portrayed as being almost perfect was a character he called Lucinda Matlock . She was the epitome of the perfect pioneer woman ,and I quite often quote part of her epitaph to my grandchildren or children when they complain about things . Of course, Lucinda Matlock was a prototype of Masters’ own grandmother, Lucinda Masters ! The townspeople who did not really like the exposure of their real weaknesses apparently had nothing to refute about her life in their protests about their epitaphs ! I am going to print the epitaph as a reminder of all of the older generation who lived life because they loved life . It is a beautiful testament to the indomitable spirit of the pioneer women who had such grace and courage and fortitude to conquer life’s challenges! I can see my own grandmother’s life and love in Lucinda . Hope you enjoy it – if you have read it before and if it is a first impression!