Margaret Fuller Slack -- Spoon River Anthology

<<< Harold Arnett

George Trimble >>>

This poem was included in the original 1915 edition.

I WOULD have been as great as George Eliot
But for an untoward fate.
For look at the photograph of me made by Penniwit,
Chin resting on hand, and deep--set eyes--
Gray, too, and far-searching.
But there was the old, old problem:
Should it be celibacy, matrimony or unchastity?
Then John Slack, the rich druggist, wooed me,
Luring me with the promise of leisure for my novel,
And I married him, giving birth to eight children,
And had no time to write.
It was all over with me, anyway,
When I ran the needle in my hand
While washing the baby's things,
And died from lock--jaw, an ironical death.
Hear me, ambitious souls,
Sex is the curse of life.

Comments

There are currently no comments for this epitaph. Be the first to add a comment!

We reserve the right to remove off-topic, inappropriate or markedly offensive comments. Although your e-mail address is required in case we need to contact you about your comment, we will not make your e-mail address visible to the public, share it with third parties, or use it to send unsolicited messages.

Search Spoon River

Talks about

Penniwit, the Artist

Talked about by

Thomas Rhodes

Plymouth Rock Joe

Prominent Words

Slack (in 3 documents)
Druggist (in 2 documents)
leisure (in 2 documents)
novel (in 2 documents)
photograph (in 2 documents)
Sex (in 2 documents)
Fuller (in 3 documents)
Jaw (in 3 documents)
Margaret (in 3 documents)
needle (in 3 documents)
wooed (in 3 documents)
baby (in 4 documents)
Penniwit (in 4 documents)
gives (in 5 documents)
lock (in 5 documents)
lure (in 5 documents)
promise (in 6 documents)
search (in 6 documents)
Wash (in 6 documents)

This site is a service of Honeylocust Media Systems; contact with questions and comments.