Spoon River Anthology entries 1+2
“Never to be told, robbed me of my youth and my beauty; Till at last, wrinkled and with yellow teeth, and with broken pride and shameful hummility; I sank into the grave”- Ollie McGee pg. 2
I found the relationship of the McGee’s to be quite an interesting one. From what we can tell from the headstones, we know that they weren’t really a happy couple in life. It seemed that Fletcher drained the life out of Ollie and took away her youth. When someone’s youth is taken away, it could mean that their younger years were wasted or that they’ve basically been stressed to the point in which it physically drainds them.
Deacon Taylor’s headstone was also one that I found interesting. It was about how a deacon of the church died from a bad liver from drinking too much in private. I think this applies to life that even the “purest” of us has to indulge once in a while. Taylor seemed to be going almost against human nature by living a pure life but a human being and not God, we will always succumb to basic desires and wants. It’s kind of ironic that such a man in a holy position died of something from something that contributes to a “sinful” lifestyle.
