Walter Simmons
My parents thought that I would be
As great as Edison or greater:
For as a boy I made balloons
And wondrous kites and toys with clocks
And little engines with tracks to run on
And telephones of cans and thread.
I played the cornet and painted pictures,
Modeled in clay and took the part
Of the villain in the "Octoroon."
But then at twenty-one I married
And had to live, and so, to live
I learned the trade of making watches
And kept the jewelry store on the square,
Thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking--
Not of business, but of the engine
I studied the calculus to build.
And all Spoon River watched and waited
To see it work, but it never worked.
And a few kind souls believed my genius
Was somehow hampered by the store.
It wasn't true. The truth was this:
I didn't have the brains.

Walter Simmons Questions:
1. What is the main contrast in Simmons and Higbie?
2. What was Spoon River's opinion of Simmons?
3. Did Simmons amount to much in his own eyes? Spoon River's eyes? Your eyes?
4. What reason would Spoon River give for his not making a mark in the world?
5. What reason does Simmons give?