Rev. Lemuel Wiley
I preached four thousand sermons,
I conducted forty revivals,
And baptized many converts.
Yet no deed of mine
Shines brighter in the memory of the world,
And none is treasured more by me:
Look how I saved the Blisses from divorce.
And kept the children free from that disgrace,
To grow up into moral men and women,
Happy themselves a credit to the village.
Edgar Lee Masters
4 comments:
In Mrs. Charles Bliss the woman is speaking of her misery in not being able to leave her husband because the preacher and judge will not help her. While in Rev. Lemual Wiley he speaks of the way he saved the Bliss family from disgrace and helped them to stay happy with the help of God.
They are two completely different views on the same matter. "Mrs. Charles Bliss" gives a sad and somber view of Mrs. Bliss' decision to not divorce her husband. She sees it as her biggest regret, because it caused so many problems to the ones she loved. On the other hand, "Rev. Lemuel Wiley" speaks of the same matter, but it is through the eyes of a preacher that the Blisses spoke to. He sees the decision Mrs. Bliss made as his greatest accomplishment, because he persuaded her not to divorce her husband. This appears to give a proud and cheery tone, but once both stories are read, there is a naive and saddening tone that is understood in this poem.
In, "Mrs.Charles Bliss", the speaker is not happy because the preacher nor the judge will help her get a divorce with her husband so she has to literally last until death with him, but in "Rev. Lemuel Wiley", the preacher speaks that he has taught many sermons and has saved many people from divorces, also keeping the children from having to pick a side to go to after divorce.
These two poems are different views on the same problem. In "Mrs. Charles Bliss," the speaker is not happy because she wanted a divorce. The lady is unhappy with her husband and with the priest. In "Rev. Lemuel Wiley" the speaker is the preacher who "saved" the Bliss' marriage. The speaker is happy in those poem because he saved a marriage.
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