The Great Valley

"The Great Valley" by Edgar Lee Masters is a collection of poems that shows the story of Chicago through different people and stories from the early 1900s. These poems look at the city's past, its culture, and how it was changing, like in "Fort Dearborn," which thinks about the old Fort Dearborn and how Chicago changed over time, setting native people and fur traders against modern city life. The poems show the city's growth while also remembering what was lost. The author touches on ideas like remembering the past and who we are through tales of growth set in a growing American city. The tone is thoughtful, as it looks at both the good and bad sides of change and also explores the legacy that threads throughout the collection.