Calvin Campbell explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• The Search for Meaning

  Calvin Campbell questions the forces that shape individual destiny and moral character.

• Illusion vs. Reality

  The poem contrasts the appearance of flourishing with the underlying reality of poison or sweetness.

Characters to notice

• Calvin Campbell

  Speaker of the epitaph, questioning fate and the origins of personal character.

Key passages

• “Ye who are kicking against Fate, Tell me how it is that on this hill-side Running down to the river, Which fronts the sun and the south-wind, This plant draws from the air and soil Poison and becomes poison ivy? And this plant draws from the same air and soil Sweet elixirs and colors and becomes arbutus? And both flourish?”

  You who resist fate, explain how two plants in the same sunny, riverside location can absorb identical elements yet one becomes toxic poison ivy and the other becomes sweet arbutus, yet both thrive.

  Campbell uses a natural metaphor to question the origins of good and evil in human character.

• “You may blame Spoon River for what it is, But whom do you blame for the will in you That feeds itself and makes you dock-weed, Jimpson, dandelion or mullen And which can never use any soil or air So as to make you jessamine or wistaria?”

  You can criticize Spoon River, but who is responsible for the inner will that turns you into a coarse weed rather than a beautiful flower, regardless of your environment?

  Campbell shifts blame from external circumstances to internal will, emphasizing personal responsibility.