Masters - Edgar Lee Masters

American poet. He studied law and opened a bar in Chicago, but his passion for literature was unrelenting, and he taught himself Latin and Greek, became familiar with philosophy and English literature, and published his first collection of poems in 1898. It was his "Spoon River Poems" (1915, revised edition 1916) that made him famous. This long poem, written in free verse and depicting the ecology of a traditional rural town in a setting in which about 240 dead people rest in the cemetery of the fictional town of Spoon River in the American Midwest each tell the story of their own past, was hailed as a masterpiece of realism and became the forerunner of S. Anderson and S. Lewis. However, none of the numerous collections of poems he published before and after this one attracted public attention, and he only gained a reputation for his "Lincoln the Man" (1931), which criticized Lincoln for destroying American freedom.

[Masayuki Sakemoto]

"Isara's translation of "World Famous Poetry Collection 11: Spoon Riva Poetry Collection (excerpts)" (1959, Heibonsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

アメリカの詩人。最初法律を学びシカゴで弁護士を開業したが、文学への情熱は絶ちがたく、独学でラテン語、ギリシア語を学び、哲学やイギリス文学に親しみ、そして1898年には最初の詩集を出版した。彼を一躍有名にしたのは『スプーン・リバー詞華集』（1915、改訂版1916）である。アメリカ中西部の架空の町スプーン・リバーの墓地に眠る240名ほどの死者たちが、それぞれに自分の過去を語るという設定のもとに、自由詩の形式で因襲的な田舎(いなか)町の生態を容赦なく描くこの長詩は、リアリズム文学の傑作として脚光を浴び、S・アンダーソンやS・ルイスの先駆となった。しかし彼がその前後に出版したおびただしい詩集はいずれも世間の注意をひくことができず、わずかに『人間リンカーン』（1931）でアメリカの自由をリンカーンがだいなしにしてしまったと論難して評判になった。

［酒本雅之］

『衣更着信訳『世界名詩集大成11　スプーン・リヴァ詞華集（抄）』（1959・平凡社）』

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