When I first came to Spoon River
I did not know whether what they told me
Was true or false.
They would bring me an epitaph
And stand around the shop while I worked
And say "He was so kind," "He was wonderful,"
"She was the sweetest woman," "He was a consistent Christian."
And I chiseled for them whatever they wished,
All in ignorance of its truth.
But later, as I lived among the people here,
I knew how near to the life
Were the epitaphs that were ordered for them when 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.
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Comments
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Richard Bone is sort of the key to the whole collection of "Spoon River Anthology" because it details the epitaphs that he (being Edgar Masters) was able to craft knowing the true nature of the townspeople he commemorates. It was Masters' job to write the epitaphs as it was Richard Bone's job to write what they wanted on the epitaphs, which are probably not a real reflection of the lives they lead - just the image of themselves that someone else wanted them to have in that mundane way of "beloved mother," etc... Masters does a wonderful job seeing the humanity in each person even when they possessed the less than admirable qualities that a typical epitaph omits. In this poem, Bone is somewhat dismayed at playing a part in perpetuating the myth of the townspeople because he was "influenced to hide" their real stories by the necessity of earning money.
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He's talking about making a tombstone for two people he doesn't know based on the opinion of others. It's all good and well to be told that a person was wonderful and a good christian in their life, but how does he know? How does he know he's not chiseling "false chronicles" into permanence. He realizes that perhaps it's not his place to question the past lives of another, but to simply acknowledge the life and move on.
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does anyone know what this poem means
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