Study Guide:

Remember me:  a collection of epitaphs

Epitaph: a burial inscription, often in verse.

The original Spoon River Anthology (Edgar Lee Masters) was published as a serialized version in 1914-15. In the Anthology, the dead in an Illinois graveyard relay, in matter-of-fact but haunting tones, details from their lives. The Anthology was original, provocative and influential.

Masters wove a thread of partial reality throughout the Anthology. Many of the characters and their experiences can be identified with former residents of Lewistown and Petersburg, Illinois. Masters' used his childhood experiences in these two communities, as a basis for the poems.  “The Hill” is the first poem in the Anthology:

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.

Where are Ella, Kate, Mag, Lizzie and Edith,
The tender heart, the simple soul, the loud, the proud, the happy one?--
All, all are sleeping on the hill.

One died in shameful child-birth,
One of a thwarted love,
One at the hands of a brute in a brothel,
One of a broken pride, in the search for heart's desire;
One after life in far-away London and Paris
Was brought to her little space by Ella and Kate and Mag--
All, all are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping on the hill.

Where are Uncle Isaac and Aunt Emily,
And old Towny Kincaid and Sevigne Houghton,
And Major Walker who had talked

With venerable men of the revolution?--
All, all are sleeping on the hill.

They brought them dead sons from the war,
And daughters whom life had crushed,
And their children fatherless, crying--
All, all are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping on the hill.

Where is Old Fiddler Jones
Who played with life all his ninety years,
Braving the sleet with bared breast,
Drinking, rioting, thinking neither of wife nor kin,
Nor gold, nor love, nor heaven?
Lo! he 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.

The next poem is the “epitaph” Of

SARAH BROWN

Maurice, weep not, I am not here under this pine tree.
The balmy air of spring whispers through the sweet grass,
The stars sparkle, the whippoorwill calls,
But thou grievest, while my soul lies rapturous
In the blest Nirvana of eternal light!
Go to the good heart that is my husband,
Who broods upon what he calls our guilty love:
Tell him that my love for you, no less than my love for him,
Wrought out my destiny -- that through the flesh
I won spirit, and through spirit, peace.
There is no marriage in heaven,
But there is love.

Next:

RICHARD BONE

When I first came to Spoon River
I did not know whether what they told me
Was true or false.
They would bring me the epitath
And stand around the shop while I worked
And say "He was so kind, " "He was so wonderful, "
"She was the sweetest woman, " "He was a consistent Christian. "
And I chiseled for them whatever they wished,
All in ignorance of the truth.
But later, as I lived among the people here,
I knew how near to the life
Were the epitaths that were ordered for them as they died.
But still I chiseled whatever they paid me to chisel
And made myself party to the false chronicles
Of the stones,
Even as the historian does who writes
Without knowing the truth,
Or because he is influenced to hide it

Click here to also look at Our Hill.

In the spirit of Edgar Lee Masters, we will create our own “town.”  Ours, however, will utilize our knowledge of the Holocaust and pay homage to Elie Wiesel’s Night.

First, re-examine Night.  Look for people, whether they be Jewish, German, Nazi…your choice can be an actual person (Juliek, a Kapo, Tzipora) or a compilation based on actions and events.  You may have names for the former; in case you don’t, and in the case of the latter, you will need to create names.

Once you have decided on your persona, become the person.  Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my name?
• How old am I?
• Where did I live?
• With whom did I live?
• What did I do (student, mother, worker)?
• What were my hopes and dreams?
• What happened to me?
• How did I feel about my death?
• What is my outlook on life?  My advice to the living?
• What were the most significant events in my life?

Merge your ideas with your knowledge of the Holocaust.  Fill in as many specific and relevant details as possible. 

 Click here to review samples of student epitaphs.

Now, create an epitaph using your persona.  Your purpose is to create a piece to help us remember our time spent in World War II – so that we do not forget.

We will attach our epitaphs gravestones, and create our memorial on the bulletin board.