# G. E. Muehleback explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ring Lardner.

## What happens

A brief poetic portrait of G. E. Muehleback, a capitalist from Kansas City, Missouri, who is afflicted with a melancholy that causes the city to lament his sorrows.

## Themes in this chapter

### Humor and Satire

The chapter uses playful rhyme and exaggeration to depict the capitalist's 'Blues' in a humorous light.

### Money and Materialism

The subject is identified as a 'Capitalist,' linking wealth to his emotional state and the city's reaction.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator presents a whimsical, poetic description of G. E. Muehleback's melancholy.

## Key lines

> The gent we see here has the Blues; Not the kind which the saxophones use, Though all Kansas City Moans “Oh, what a pity!” Whenever these Blues of his lose.

The man depicted is sad, but not with musical melancholy; still, the whole city mourns whenever his sadness fades.

_The poem plays on the double meaning of 'Blues' as both sadness and a musical genre._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_19_se/chapters/g-e-muehleback
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_19_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_19_se/chapters