The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1873-12-04

"a al q q saint vision came 70
me last night. u was this Me-
thought the world lay all in sleep,
4 when suddenly from out the open
window q star looked Ia on mo with
ruby eye, all glad and tfemuloas. Il
shoBe white across my bed and said
/ to me, Rise aud f0H0Fg.e The uvoice
/ was sweet. 9 got dapi and then nay
/ guide led me q great distance, over
moor and fell, across beck and brook. !.
through heath and no Ilo Fs.Sad glen.
There, where banks OF wild Fo4ee
4 climbed the fences, aud bIuebells and
4 sweet daisies earessed the meadows.
And Beyond, where mountains tow-
cred off into space, and hills girded
/ the villages, where rivers went sing
i ing to find the seSs and ships with tall
black hulksi were faosed from their
mooring then, past churchyards with
white stones encireling the graves as
golden rings do enclose precious
I Jewels. j s51Has iBl .fjal 7Jon liIls 9
1 asOH and on we went until, painting,
breathIess, exhausted,I / found the star
had paused. Look upw lard, o child
1 of mortality, It cried.s 55l23at 80
! saAnd beholdl .W2iiasssa1 s}lAs ,
sLdfting its front from the bosom
of q green valley, there gleaEaea upon
/ my sight . temple Of fair iPenteIic6h
marble myriad lights burned Enddll
j ly from fretted dome to pavement;
voices Of far1aWay choristers chAnted
triumph through the arches and
WhiIe1 gazed there came d pageant
adown the radiant aisle with faces
that sfone Ike stars, ana step Of calm
and noble majesty. l pressed fer
ward to near their shining ranks, but
an invisible hand held me back and
the voice of my guide. whispered,
Not yet, not yeti You may not join
these chosen ones; they are the chill
dren OF Gehius, Of Sorrow. They
have toiied, they have iwept;; so must
be your lot If you would win the
crown, Of laurel. iI.'sAili va 7a
asThcn / made answer. Behold
this-the work of my life Yen gen.
tie muse of poetry smiles upon my
1 efforts, and nations praise the Tyre
striking the tones thus boldly. have
toiled, ali have toiled over the pen,
and not IN vain . - - -is5sa7 i.'i' ~ Z
a.'Thsn the star said, Nay, you must
Weep-yoti must weep, for fame is
but q royal mourning in purple for
lost happiness. r see beside your
hearthstone, father, mother, sister
thus, one strokeand they are. not p
Il shnddered, but turned to look
upon the picture suddenly held be-
fore my eyes. 1 s|...
sThree dead faces were there
faces that had illumined. my shadow "
! world and that were dear to me. ]
loved them-oh, Father in heaven,
how / loved them-still, still / gave
them to Theei Essa.ss s.
Then closer would have moved to
that shining throng, but the voice
again cried, Not yet, not YETI and
with eyes streaming with tears saw
my gentle friends CLEANED. remorse-
llessly by the reaper, as grain ripe and
| golden for the sickle. Naught was
there left but one, and he-the friend
above all other ,friends-aye, my lord,
my Prond and noble lord.
'Surely fate would be kind and not
stab me there iio .8saa 8 fsilifs
g GO, mortal, go,p' exclaimed the
STAR Return to your haunts of men ;
your zcroRn may never be won until
life is robbed of all its jewels; the
brightest gem is worn on your heart
and that we are poWerless to shatter.'
81 slid on my knees; then, white
and fainting, an agony closed me in,
but stretching upward my hands, ]
faltered, fEVen--eYen him. Take even
him from me, but give me my CROWN
"And yet yoa loved him, Marian ~
interrupted the youth, and he wrung
her hand almost EfiercelY. is.9li3 si1
HLoVed him 7Hshe repeated! fsThis
my ideallIord2 2 Yes, I loved him.
nay do love him. Yet I could suffer
as in the vision, still give him upg'
ssThey crowned me,o she repeated
drealnily. Yes, they crowned me.
God never created me for happiness,
perhaps. The star said, you remem-
Der, + anne is but q royal mourning
for lost heppifless.2 I believe It.
They spokeino more. 70 ll5o steA
& The evening wore on. In loneliness
the maiden stood upon the shore her
lover was gone, and forevef. The sky
grew darker; those dim prophetic
storms were riding the wings OF the
blast ia suIIsn frenzy out upon the
sea that speek upon the horizon be-
came tossing ship.
Then were cries loud in agony, and
white arms were lung alofr, and men
with stout hearts Quailed before the
tempest. Then Wasa rushing of fierce
Waters--a struggle of wave and wind
and darkness; afterwards q calm, a
desolate calm; all was ended. The
ocean was q speckless but rolling
mound over grave and wreeki9i
And thus in life do we wiring our
hands and mourn, and curse the FOOLS
wisdom that made of our fairest hopes
but sundered wrecks upon q summer
shore. 7B9 4a 'ass 1Sa
Through the rain and the wind and
the darkness of night went our Marian
hbmeWard with face gray as the face
smOte the windows no cricket sang
upon the hearth the voice Of desola-
tion cried bitterly aloud to her ear
through the watches oftthat evening
and the next day, and the following
days in. dreary procession. q" Alas l
alasl is this your fame Alas I is
this your boasted fame ~
Thus came it thatthe doWersi in her
eoYeted crown were changed ali to.
unsightly thorns aye, what is it to
barter happiness for an empty toy.
But when summer came, the bright
the marvellous summer, all the world
took up its song of promise.
The sweet, mysterious eyes of our
maiden again looked out upon the
water, but rather was it to veil the
story of love shining in the dark
ofbs till their heaven seemed radient
in faith and lnstre.a IS
Ask you. were she happy? Idle
| question! Was not her lord beside
her? What more?
Well had she learned the bitter
truth that fame, thattripmphi is naught
when compared with the kingdom OF
Woman-Home. f94a=v sfaf2 tf-54-,
;Crowned was the maidenl She
rralkad hanaath the afai.s with .har