Spoon River - commento ad alcuni capitoli in inglese

Fiddler Jones
Jones was a farmer; when he learnt how to play the fiddle (violin) he left his work in the farm because he was called to play for the people of his town; his luck never grew and he died with the same acres as before he learnt how to play, but he didn't have regrets.
In my opinion Masters wanted to show us that if you find a meaning in life you should pursue it even if it seems that other people oblige you to do that.

Dippold, the optician
Dippold is making a pair of glasses and going through loads of lenses that show the world as it is he finds a lens that makes “everything below a toy world”.
This poem is one of my favourite because it made me understand that the world could be a good place if you watch it from a better point of view (“the world always looks brighter from behind a smile”).

Trainor, the druggist
If a chemist mixes fluids he should know the result, but if two people interact nobody can say what will be the result and what kind of child will be born.
This poem made me understand that life has to be lived even if you don't know what will happen.

The hill
“The hill” is the place where the epitaphs are. This poem is a brief summary of the following poems; nobody died of natural death (“one was burned in a mine, one was killed in a brawl, one died in jail, one fell from a bridge toiling for children and wife”).
This poem impressed me because is the first you read in the book, so it gives you an impression of what you’ll read; he scared me because it talks of death.

Francis Turner
Francis Turner had scarlet-fever. He died loving because his heart didn’t survive to Mary’s kiss.
I found this poem as one of the softest of the book, but really hard to understand at the first sight. Turner left his soul doing one of the most natural men action: loving, and loving he died, but dying he finally could live as the other people did.