The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1861-02-22
The Old Wife's Kiss.


The funeral services wcro ended As tn,
voice of prayer ceased, tears woro bgstiI,
wiped off from wet cheeks, and long dam
slghs relovod suppressed and choking sobs
as the mourners prepared to tako leave O
tho corpse.
1t was an old man that lay there, robot
for the gravo. Moro than three score yenr,
had ~hltened those locks, and furrowed tba,
brow. and made those stiff limbs weary O
Mes journey, and all tho moro willing to Ii,
| down ana rest whero woariness is no NOR,
suffered, and inGrmities arc no longer ,
burden,
Tho aged have but few to weep for them
when they dio. The most of those who
would have mourned their loss, have gone
TO the grave before them; harps that would
havo sighed sad harmonies, are shattered
ana gone; and they that remain are looking
cradleward, rather than graveyard, to lite's
end'ng rather than toward its goal; arc
bound to and living in the generation rising.
more than tho generation departing.
Youth aud beauty have many admirers
while living, and have many mourners when
dying Many tuarfui eyes bond over thoir
cottlned clay many sad hearts follow in tho
funeral train. But age has few admirers.
and few mournQrs.
This was an old man. and the circle Of
mourners was small. Two children who
mad themselves. passed. tho middle of life.
and who had children of their own In care
for aud to bo carod for by them. Besides
these, and few fl lends who had soep and
visited him while sick, and possibly had
known him few years, thcro were none
others to shed tear, except his old wifo-
And OF this small company, tho old wife
seemed to bo tho only heart mourner. 1t
IS very proper for children who have out.
grown tho torvent affection of Youth. to shed
tears whom an aged parent says "Farcweli.'
and lies down to quiet slumbers. Some
recollection of tho past, some transitory
grief, and the pnng is over. Not always so.
But often. how littlo true, genuine heart
sorrow there is.
lh0 o'G wife arose with difficulty from
her seat. and went to Tho coffin to look hor
last look--to take her farewell. Through
the fast falling tears, she gazed long and
tondly down into that pale, nncons cous fuce.
What did sho SEQ there: Others saw noth.
ing but tho rigid features of tho dead she
saw more. In every wrinkle of that brow.
she saw tho history of years. From youth
to manhocd-in JOY and sorrow---in sickness
ana heaith-lt was oil there; when those
children. who had outgrown tho sympathies
OF childhood, were infants lying on her
bosom-and every year since then thero it
was. To others, those dull, mute monitors
woro uEinte!igiblc; to her. tbey wero tho
alphabet of the hoart-famiIiar us house
hold words.
Aud then tho future! "what will bo.
como of MOI What shall do now Z" Sbo
did not say so; she did not say anything (;
but she felt il. The prospect of the old wiie
is clouded. Tho home circle Is broken up
never to be reunited: tho visions of tho
hearihstono are scattered forever. Up 10
that hour, thGo was home, to which tho
heart always turned with fondnoss But
the magic tic is sundered, tho keystone of
tho sacred arch is fallen, and now il is no.
where this sido of Heaven. What shall tho
old vito do now! Go and live with her
children-bo pensioner upon their kind.
ness, where she may be moro of n burden
than blessing-so at least she thinks p
Or shall sho gather up tho fragments of that
broken arch; mako them hor temple and
her shrine, sit down in her chill solitude
beside its expiring fires, and die: What
shall she do now
They gently crowded her away from tho
dead, and the undertaken came forward with
the coffin lid in his band. 1t is ak right and
proper enough; Of course it must DO done
but to the beart-mournGr il brings kind of
shudder, thrill of agony. as when tho
headsman comes forward with his axe. Tho
undertaken stood moment with decent
not wishing to manifest a rude
haste, but evidently desirous of boing as ex.
peditious as possible. just then tho old
wife returned back. and STOPPING down. i'm
printend one last long kiss upon the cold
lips of hor dead husband. then staggered to
hcr seat buried her face in her hands. and
Tho closing coffin hid him from her sight
forever.
That kiss Fond token of affection and
sorrow, of momory and farewell. / have
'een many kiss their doad-many such seals
If loye upon clay cold lips, but mover did
'ee one SO purely affectonate, so simple
hearted, touching and hopeless, as that which
ooks beyond coffns and charnel houses and
lamp dark tombs, to tho joys of tho home
ibovc. You would kiss the cold choek of
infancy, There is poetry there it is tho
,lastod rose bud-or the pallid cheek where
'eauty blnshed. There is romance thoro
or the faded flower is still beautiful. In
hildhood, tho heart yields to the stroke.
'ut rocOils again, elastic with faith, buoyant
nth hope. But horo was no beauty. no
'oetry, no romance. The heart OF the old
'ife was like tho weary swimmer, whose
trongth has often raised him above the /
tormy waves, but now exhausted, sinks
mong the surges.