"Toward the Gulf" by Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. This collection of poems portrays life in America at the turn of the century. The book contains Toward the Gulf, Lake Boats, cities of the Plain, Excluded Middle, Samuel Butler Et Al., Johnny Appleseed, The Loom, Dialogue at Perko's, Sir Galahad, St. Desert, Heaven is but the Hour, and more.