Edgar Lee Masters’“Mrs. Meyers” from Spoon River Anthology is an American curtal sonnet. The curtal sonnet features 11 lines with the traditional rime scheme of abcabc dcbdc or abcabc dbcdc. The final line is often a half line, for example, Father Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty.” Father Hopkins is credited with this form’s invention.
However, Masters’ curtal departs from the traditional form as it dispenses with the rime scheme and is sectioned into two quatrains and one tercet; thus, it is an innovative or American sonnet.
First Movement: “He protested all his life long”
The first movement of “Mrs. Meyers” is a quatrain stanza and has Mrs. Meyer speaking directly about her husband. Without identifying him by name, she simply begins, “He protested all his life long.” And the reader will remember that he did, indeed; his little drama’s raison d’être is to expound on the grounds for his complaint.
Mrs. Meyers reports more specifically about her husband’s protest: “the newspapers lied about him villainously.” Of course, neither the doctor nor his wife offer any details regarding those reports. But her husband always contended that he was only trying to help Minerva Jones, the pregnant poetess, by aborting her baby.
Second Movement: “Poor soul so sunk in sin he could not see”
After explaining Doctor Meyers’ position on his situation, Mrs. Meyers reveals her philosophical, religious view of his problem: she believes that he committed a crime by murdering that unborn child, and despite her sorrow and sympathy for him, she knows that those who commit such atrocities must be held accountable for breaking “the law human and divine.”
She calls him a “poor soul,” for he was obviously blind to his grave error. He spent his lifetime trying to justify his complicity in committing a sin that in no way can be justified.
Third Movement: “And then one night, Minerva, the poetess”
Finally, Mrs. Meyers offers a piece of advice to the “passers by” who might be listening to her account. She tells them that if they would live a tranquil and peaceful life, they must “Love God and keep his commandments.”
She calls her advice “an ancient admonition,” which gives its import the weight of truth. She had lived with a man who was basically a good soul but who allowed his good judgment to be averted in order to appease a foolish woman. She has seen the sorrow that results from failing to follow the ancient law of karma, of reaping and sowing.
Linda Sue Grimes - As a writer, researcher, and SRF devotee, Linda Sue Grimes has studied poetry and practiced Kriya Yoga for over thirty years..
Join the Conversation