I went to the dances at Chandlerville,
And played snap-out at Winchester.
One time we changed partners,
Driving home in the midnight of middle June,
And then I found Davis.
We were married and lived together for seventy years,
Enjoying, working, raising the twelve children,
Eight of whom we lost
Ere I had reached the age of sixty.
I spun, I wove, I kept the house, I nursed the sick,
I made the garden, and for holiday
Rambled over the fields where sang the larks,
And by Spoon River gathering many a shell,
And many a flower and medicinal weed–
Shouting to the wooded hills, singing to the green valleys.
At ninety-six I had lived enough, that is all,
And passed to a sweet repose.
What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness,
Anger, discontent and drooping hopes?
Degenerate sons and daughters,
Life is too strong for you–
It takes life to love Life.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Edgar Lee Masters's poem Lucinda Matlock

6 Comments

  1. Sara says:

    I believe this poem is about a woman who lived life to the fullest, even though her life may have been simple. When she died and looked back at her life, she was satisfied. Perhaps other women in her time had struggles with life, but Lucinda Matlock was happy with life, despite tragedies. The last two lines imply that some people don’t deserve to live life if they don’t appreciate it and can’t handle it. The author is trying to tell the reader that despite tragedies, you should still live life to the fullest.

    ~Hope that helps!

  2. muna al-zidi says:

    in this poem, the old lady is speaking and she shows her respond to her life. some people are sorrow, discontent, hopeless in their life, but she is not. the false thing has in her life that she turns away from true life and goes to bad things, no more good things she does in her life, no principles, but follows devil way.

  3. Kyle says:

    I somewhat disagree with what traviesa had to say about the poem. I think the poem is about living life to the fullest. Instead of complaining about the woes of life, live life out and it will reward you. Do not expect life to come to you with bountiful gifts, you must seek them yourself.

  4. traviesa says:

    This poem states that life can give you things but can also take them from you. God gave her a bless to have children but as he gave her joy he took them away from her. Maybe it was to make the readers understand that you learm from your own experiences and that you canot let tragedy mark you for the rest of your life no matter how deep you been stab. (hope it helps)

  5. Damaris says:

    This poem states that life can give you things but can also take them from you. God gave her a bless to have children but as he gave her joy he took them away from her. Maybe it was to make the readers understand that you learm from your own experiences and that you canot let tragedy mark you for the rest of your life no matter how deep you been stab. (hope it helps)

  6. Sha says:

    Help! I’m working on a project involving this poem and I’m finding it difficult to analyze – should it be taken literally or is it a running metephor for life? Anyone else have any ideas?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Edgar Lee Masters better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.