# Judge Somers explained — Spoon River Anthology

> Chapter companion for Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters.

## What happens

Judge Somers, a once-erudite and celebrated lawyer, laments his forgotten and unmarked grave while contrasting it with the ornate marble monument of Chase Henry, the town drunkard, which Nature has ironically adorned with a flowering weed.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Legacy

Judge Somers contrasts his own forgotten, unmarked grave with the memorial of Chase Henry, reflecting on the irony of legacy and remembrance.

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The judge's lament implies a societal hypocrisy where a drunkard is honored while a learned man is ignored, questioning the values that determine posthumous recognition.

## Character check-ins

### Judge Somers

The speaker, a former lawyer of great learning and renown, now lies forgotten in an unmarked grave.

### Chase Henry

The town drunkard, who despite his lowly status, has a marble block topped by an urn with a flowering weed.

## Key lines

> How does it happen, tell me, That I who was most erudite of lawyers, Who knew Blackstone and Coke Almost by heart, who made the greatest speech The courthouse ever heard, and wrote A brief that won the praise of Justice Breese⁠— How does it happen, tell me, That I lie here unmarked, forgotten, While Chase Henry, the town drunkard, Has a marble block, topped by an urn Wherein Nature, in a mood ironical, Has sown a flowering weed?

Judge Somers questions why he, a brilliant lawyer who mastered legal texts, delivered the courthouse's finest speech, and wrote a brief praised by Justice Breese, lies in an unmarked grave, while Chase Henry, a notorious drunkard, has a marble monument with an urn where Nature has ironically planted a weed.

_The judge's rhetorical question underscores the irony of his forgotten legacy versus the memorial of a less deserving man._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/judge-somers
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters