Dow Kritt, speaking from the grave, pushes back against Samuel’s endless talk about his elm. He doesn’t need death to teach him about roots; he spent his life digging ditches around Spoon River and knows what lies beneath. His own elm began with the same good seed and at the same time as Samuel’s, yet it is dying at the top. He rejects the sexton’s easy explanations of fungus or insects. The real trouble is hidden underground: the roots have hit rock and cannot spread, while the crown exhausts itself trying to grow. The speaker’s tone is grim and a little bitter, carrying a working man’s authority about what quietly limits a life. The mood is somber and earthbound, turning the tree’s struggle into a blunt image of blocked possibility and wasted effort.
Dow Kritt — Summary
Samuel is forever talking of his elm— But I did not need to die to learn about roots: I, who dug all the ditches about Spoon River. Look at my elm! Sprung from as good a seed as his, Sown at the same time, It is dying at the top: Not from lack of life, nor fungus, Nor destroying insect, as the sexton thinks. Look, Samuel, where the roots have struck rock, And can no further spread. And all the while the top of the tree Is tiring itself out, and dying, Trying to grow.