Toward the Gulf

Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 284K words
Chapters: 29

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Toward the Gulf by Edgar Lee Masters. Author: Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868–1950. Language: English. Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature. Release Date: April 1, 2005

Editor's review

Toward the Gulf is a poetry collection by the American poet Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950), gathering his poems. Masters is best known for Spoon River Anthology and is celebrated for using free verse to portray the inner lives and fates of ordinary people, with a plain, narrative style. This volume continues his concern with human nature, society, and regional life; the title suggests an image of movement toward the unknown or the distant. As a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, its value lies in giving readers easy access to the work of a poet from the transitional period of modern American poetry and in conveying the power of the free-verse narrative tradition. Readers may compare this collection with Masters's representative work to observe his experiments with dramatic monologue, social observation, and poetic form. It is suitable as supplementary reading for courses in American poetry history, and for readers who enjoy narrative poetry and are willing to read slowly and attentively.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern American poetry, especially the free-verse narrative tradition
Students taking American literature courses who need supplementary reading of a poet's work
Readers who enjoy character monologue and social observation presented in poetic form
Enthusiasts who wish to use public-domain resources to read English poetry in the original

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer classical Chinese poetry or strictly metrical verse
Readers expecting the continuous plot of a novel
Beginners with little interest in or foundation for reading English poetry

Reading tips

Begin with Masters's representative work Spoon River Anthology to understand his style, then move on to this collection
Read the poems in order and slowly, noting the identity and tone of the speaker in each poem
Start with shorter poems, then gradually move on to longer narrative poems
Try reading the poems aloud to appreciate the rhythm and colloquial expression of free verse

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the relationship between this collection and Spoon River Anthology?

Both books belong to Masters's poetic output. Spoon River Anthology is his best-known representative work, portraying small-town characters through epitaph-like monologue poems. This book continues his style of free-verse narrative and character observation, but it can be read independently and does not require Spoon River Anthology as a prerequisite. Reading the two together, however, makes it easier to see the continuity and changes in his poetic exploration.

Can I read this book without any background in poetry?

You can try, but it requires some patience. Masters's poems are mostly in free verse, relatively plain and close to spoken language, with strong narrative drive, making them easier to enter than metrical verse. It is advisable to start with shorter pieces and use notes or an introduction to gradually become familiar with his dramatic-monologue mode of expression.

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is the original English-language eBook released by Project Gutenberg; the language is English. Readers can read the English text directly or consult Chinese-language materials on American literary history to understand its background and poetic characteristics.

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About the author

Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950 Author

Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950) was an American poet best known for Spoon River Anthology, a collection of verse epitaphs in which the dead of a small town speak for themselves. In spare, unsentimental lines, these poems expose the secrets, disappointments, and ironies hidden beneath ordinary lives, breaking with the solemn tone of traditional elegy and leaving a clear mark on the subjects and voice of modern American poetry. The library holds nine of his works, including, besides Spoon River Anthology, The Open Sea, The Great Valley, Starved Rock, Mitch Miller, Songs and Satires, Toward the Gulf, and Domesday Book. These touch on nature and regional landscape, the historical memory of the American Midwest, and observations of social life. Masters is generally noted for his realistic portraits of people and places, written in plain language with an ironic edge. Public information about his life and education is limited, so no details are given here.