Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-08-22
a" ZOE ZElLA."
Reverics, Poetic and Otherwfse-Mel.
anchOIy Musings - s. Lou Louis :"
over hauIed-Su gacstiOns TO
Faust" etc.

-
FRust,'' etc.
EDITOR HERALD: Sunday afternoon
as we were sitting "neath the shade
of the vine and fig tree" we turned,
tired and disgusted, from the papers
filled with the reports of the loqua-
cious society canni6als, who are so
eagerly trying to devour the character
of their victims. We have often won
dered If there was no draught, no
river of Lethe, where the insatiate
monster, Scandal, might not drink
and be satisfied. Failing to find an
answer in the realm of thought, we
turned to our best companions; they
are our safest friends:
"a quaint, mysterious, silent band,
On table, shelf and desk they stand.
They only speak ut our desire,
But then they utter words of fire,
Or tune the poets sweetest Tyre"
With them we can stroll down the
dim vista of the past, peering into
many silent chamber where tradition
holds the mythical wand, and finding
in each panacea for "the thirst and
hunger of the heart, the fire and
frenzy of the BRAIN" The ocean
breezes, stealing through the orchard
leaves and kissing the flowers at our
feet, brought US an echo from our
tenting ground beside the sea.
1--WE rested there-escaped while
From cares that wear the life away
To eat the lotus of the Nile
And drink the pOppies of Cathay;
To fling their loads of custom down,
Like drift.weed on the sand-slopes brown,
And in the sea-waves drown the restless pack
OF duties, claims and needs that barked upon
our track"
The old restless longing to be once
more in our sea-shore home, where we
might watch the breakers toss their
snowy caps upon the long gray stretch
of sand, had taken possession of us as
we thought of the six happy weeks
spent in Santa Monica; where the
grand oratorio of the mighty ocean
filled the heart with reverential awe.
The beauty of those moon-lit eve
nings is past all power of description,
as the phosphorescent light danced
over the ripping waters, and defied
the power of the huge dark billows,
which seemed like giant walls of
ebony ere with roar of thunder they
changed into banks of snowy foam;
then with a low, sad murmur came
sweeping up at our feet, only to go
creeping back to the hidden chambers
of the unfathomable deep.
AS we sat watching the reverend
ing ebb and flow OF old Neptune's do
miniOn, we forgot the cares and petty
strifes Of human life, and it were as
though our Fathers voice had said
unto the troubled waters of life,
"Peace, be still;" at which the spec
tres of care and unrest had shrank
back into the dim vaults Of the past,
and we, forgetful of all save the pres
ent, yielded to fancy's fairy fingers,
to guide us where she would.
We were aroused from our reverie
by some one calling WZoe,' Zoe
have you seen Saturdays HERALD ?"
We looked up and beheld one of those
"good girls" who were our compan-
ions at the beach, and lazily an
swered, ono" Then she retorted,
Put down that everlasting book and
listen to me, here is letter from
Lou Louis and / am going to read
it to YOU" Then she read it,
Now LOU" you should Just have
been here to have heard their criti-
cism, for the other "good girl" was
with us. Yet l will not say anything
about it, for only those who have
seen the two critics at work can form
any idea of the amount of satirical
power brought into play; but take
heart, LOU" and remember that the
immortal poet of the beach said, on a
similar occasion, at has ever been
the fate of genius, to suffer wrong and
abuse"
Really LOU" it was too provoking
for anything to have you go and tell
in your letter that "Zoe Zella" and
"a couple of girls" had deserted
Santa Monica. You are as bad as the
Phygian reeds that whispered to all
the people the cause of Midas strange
fashion. Here we have been keeping
perfectly quiet ever since leaving the
beach, hoping to remain incognito.
That was bad enough, but when you
attempted that pen picture of Zoe"
human patience could stand no more.
Rest assured that we shall visit Santa
Monica again this Summer, if for no
other reason than to give description
of Hillside Villa" and its literary
occupant. Just imagine what fine
picture you will make when you meet
us at the Halfway House with the
promised "burros."
Last evening, as we were inpatient
ly awaiting the opening of Vivian's
entertainment, we picked up the E'r-
press, and were much amused and
honored (?) to see the Double Cliff
classed among the curiosities of the
place. Faust" has our sincere SYM
pathy with regard to his "fatal re-
cline" yet we are at loss to know
whether those "three females" re-
ferred to, the trio of pretty girls, OF
the same number of animals of the
feminine gender. AS the word 81 fe-
male" is rather obscure, we beg him
to be more concise in future.
ZOE ZELLA.
Los Angeles, August 18, 1874.