I need help understanding Lambert Hutchins' poem in Spoon River Anthology?
1 Answer | Add Yours
These poems are all epitaphs; they are all spoken by the dead themselves. Many of them are gloomy. This one is no exception. Lambert notes that, in addition to his tombstone (the granite obelisk), he has two other monuments. One is the house on the hill and the other is a lakefront property near an industrial part of Chicago, which is described as “foul as a sty.” Lambert probably owned a factory here. It seems that he also served in the House of Representatives. He noted that his intentions in all these endeavors were to provide a better future for subsequent generations: namely his daughters. However, he concludes that this was all worthless because he ended up being the victim of gossip, rumor and probably even envy. His daughters married quickly to escape this lifestyle.
Join to answer this question
Join a community of thousands of dedicated teachers and students.Join eNotes