The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1822-09-13
From The Sketch Book, By Washington IT.
ring.
THE BROKEN HEART.
'kEN HEART.


| aiat biAOhIAN IiIsAhl l.
Incver heard
| OF any trIe affection but twas Mint
With care, that like the caterpillar, cot.
| The leaves oil the springs sweetest looks, the
rose.
II is common To laugh nj MI love stories,
and 10 treat the tales of romantic passions
as mere fictlons of poets aud nor.lsts, that
never existed in real life. My observations
On human nature have convinced me of the
contrary, and have satisfied me, that how
ever the surface of the character may be
chilled aud frozen by the cares of the world
and pleasures of society, still there is a
warm current of affection running through
the depths of the coolest heart, which pre-
vents its being utterly connected. Indeed
! am true believer in the blind deity, and
so 10 the full extent of his doctrimes-ShalI
| confess IL !-I believe in broken hearts,
aud the possibility of dying of disappointed
love ! ! do not, however, consider il
a malady often fatal TO my own sex,
but | firmly believe that il Wihcrs down
many lovely woman into an early grave.
Man is the creature of interest and ambi.
ton. His nature leads him forth into the
struggle and hustle of the world. Love is
but the establishment of early life, or a
song plpcd III the intervals of the acts. lie
seeks for fame, for fortune, for space in the
worlds thought, and dominion over his Itl
low-men. But n woman's whole life is the
history of the affections. The heart is her
world il is there her ambition strives for
enprc--it is there her a,arice seeks for
hidden treasures. She sends forth her
sympathes ON adventure che cmbarks
her whole soul IN the traffic of affection
aud II shirwrcked, her ease is hopeless
for IT is IA bankruptcy ofthe heart
To man the disappointment Of love
may occasion some other pangs: it wounds
some feelings of tenderness il blasts some
prospects of felicity; but he is an active
being he can dissipate his thoughts in the
whirl of varied occupation or plunge into
the tide OF pleasure, or, If the scene of the
disappointment be too full of painful as
soriations, hc can shift his abode nj will, aud
taking as II were, the wings oftIe morning,
can fly to the uttermost parts of The earth,
nd be at rest.
But womans is comparatively fixed, a
seclude and mcditative life. She is more
the companion Of her own thoughts and
feelings and il they are turned to minis
ters ois sorrow where shall We look for CON
ISOLATION Her lot is TO be Wooed and won;
and if unhappy in her love her heart is
like some fortress that has been captured,
and sacked, and abandoned, and left desc
late.
How many bright eyes grow dim--how
many soft checks grow palc-how many
lovely forms fade away into the tomb, and
none can tell the cause that blighted their
loseliucss.--As the dove will clasp its wings
TO IFS side, and cover and conceal the ar
low that is preying on its yitals-so it is the
nature of women, to hide from the world
he pa1gs Of wounded affection. The love
of a delicate female is always shy and 81
lent. Even when fortunate, she scarcely
brcathes ii 10 herself but when otherwise
she burics il in The recess OF her bosom,
and there lets il cover and brood among
the ruins of her peace. With her the de-
sire of The heert has failed. The great
charm OF existence is at an end she
neslccts all the cheerful exercises that clad
den the spirits, quicken the pulses, and send
the tide Of life in healthfui currents through
the veins. Her rest is broken--1thc sweet
refresImebt OF sleep is poisoned by melan-
choly Dreams" dry sorrow drinks her
blood" until her cniecbled frame sinks nm
der The last external assalmcnt. Look for
her after a little while, and you find friend
ship weeping over her mtimcly grave, and
wondering that one, who but lately glow
cd with all the radiance of health and beau
ty, should be- brought down to darkness
and the worm. Youwill be told of some
wntry chill, some slight indisposition, that
laid her low--but no one knows the meni Al
malady that previously sapped her strength
and made her 50 easily prey to the spot
Ter. IA
She is like some fender tree, the pride
and beauty of the grove graceful in lis
form bright in its foliage, bld with the
worm preying at its core. We find il sud
denly whitening, when it should be most
fresh and iuXuriant. We see il drocpin2
its branches 10 the earth and shedding lca
by leaf until wasted and persisted away
il falls even in tie stiffness Of the forest
and as we muse over the beautiful ruin, W,
strive IN vain tn recollc,t the blast or thun.
dcrbolt that could have smitten it with de.
cay.
| have seen many instances of women
running 10 waste and self-neglect, and dis
Appearing gradually from the earth, alnos
as they had been exalted TO heaven ant
have repeatedly fanced shat could trac,
tier deaths thro' the various declension.
Of consumption, cold, debility, langour, me
lancholy, until reached the first symptom
Of disappointed love. But an instance o
the kind was lately told me the circum