The Great Valley

Name: The Great Valley
Author: Edgar Lee Masters

By Edgar Lee Masters

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Poetry

About This Book

A varied collection of poems and dramatic monologues that evokes a Midwestern landscape and urban growth through voices of past inhabitants and present citizens. It contrasts pioneer memory and local history with modern industry and social change, moving between elegy, satire, and mythic allusion. Short narratives, lyrical scenes, occasional theatrical fragments, and formal experiments explore mortality, community, labor, and the pressures of modernization while weaving natural imagery and classical references into portraits of individual and collective experience.

About the Author

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and playwright, best known for his groundbreaking work, "Spoon River Anthology," published in 1915. This collection of free verse epitaphs captures the voices of the deceased residents of a fictional small town, offering profound insights into life, death, and the human condition. Masters' innovative approach to poetry and storytelling has left a lasting impact on American literature, influencing generations of writers. In addition to his poetry, he wrote several other notable works, including "Children of the Market Place" and "Domesday Book," showcasing his versatility as a literary figure.