Edgar Lee Masters

"Reckless of my mortality,Strengthen me to behold a face,To know the spirit of a beloved one Yet to endure, yet to dare!"

"I have studied many times The marble which was chiseled for me—A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor. In truth it pictures not my destination But my life. For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances. Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life. And now I know that we must lift the sail And catch the winds of destiny Wherever they drive the boat. To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire—It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid."

"Rather a thousand times the county jail than to lie under this marble figure with wings and this granite pedestal bearing the words "pro patria." What do they mean anyway?"

"My name used to be in the papers daily As having dined somewhere,Or traveled somewhere,Or rented a house in Paris,Where I entertained the nobility. I was forever eating or traveling,Or taking the cure at Baden-Baden. Now I am here to do honor To Spoon River, here beside the family whence I sprang. No one cares now where I dined,Or lived, or whom I entertained,Or how often I took the cure at Baden-Baden!"