Ezra Bartlett speaks as a small-town chaplain and prison exhorter full of religious fever, yet he still brought scandal on himself and poor Eliza Johnson. His tone is defensive and rueful. He argues that love of women, and even wine, can act as stimulants that a soul hungry for God uses to reach moments of ecstatic vision. But he also admits these are only trials, and when they fail, the soul must find the divine by its own strength, resting in itself. The mood is conflicted—part confession, part self-justification, part hard-won wisdom. It feels intimate and a little bitter, as if he is still explaining himself to the neighbors in Spoon River who judged him.
Ezra Bartlett — Summary
A chaplain in the army, A chaplain in the prisons, An exhorter in Spoon River, Drunk with divinity, Spoon River— Yet bringing poor Eliza Johnson to shame, And myself to scorn and wretchedness. But why will you never see that love of women, And even love of wine, Are the stimulants by which the soul, hungering for divinity, Reaches the ecstatic vision And sees the celestial outposts? Only after many trials for strength, Only when all stimulants fail, Does the aspiring soul By its own sheer power Find the divine By resting upon itself.