The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-02-19
st. Valentines Day.

Who was st. Valentine, when he
lived and walked abont this world in
the flesh Some say he was a bishop,
others that he was but a presbyteF@ At
all events the Emperor Claudius took
the head off him in the year A. ID.
go, and so made him q saint. He was
famous for overlooking love and charity,
and consequently he has been honored
by lovers of every cline since the day
of his martyrdom. The birds even
begin to pair upon the anniversary of
this favored day. He must have been
one Of the iolliest saints IN the whole
calendar. His name is great at this day
in the rubric as the venerable arch
hamen of Hymen. Is he, after all, but
name, or was he ever indeed mortal
prelate, who devoted himself in his
genial, laughing way, to impelling poor
nortals to seek perfection in union
The 14th of February is st. Valen-
tines Day, the day when not merely
the birds begin to pair, but on which
thos charming little missives named
from the saint cross and intercross each
other at every corner of the street. The
wearied postmaster tolls on that day
through loads of delicate embarrass-
ments, not his own. Young ladies sit
waiting with fiuttering anxiety for the
arrival of the expected missive And
when it comes, that little visual inter
probation of some ones half hidden
feelings, the emblem, heart, all cruel
~ bestuck with eupid's arrows, and
bleeding and accompanied by its soft,
watery verse or tender Sentiment, with
what tumultuous gushings of inter
mingling hopes and fears it is regarded
and read. A heart Yes there will be
more emblematic hearts, little three
cOrnered things surrounded by gilt and
flowers, and flying cupids, travelling
around tn n on any other day in all
the year. What authority we have in
either history or mythology for placing
/ the headquarters and metropolis of god
cupid IN this anatomical seat it would
be hard to say; but we have got If,
! that is clear. If one we e. to tender to
/ his mistrets his liver and fortune, she
f.! would treat him with disdain but to
/ have an impalt d heart laid at ones
feet-isn't it nice? Custom has settled
| this matter for MS and awarded the seat
Of sentiment to this triangular organ,
while its less fortunate neighbors wait
at animal and anatomical distances, be-
ing considered good for digestive pur-
poses merely.
A knock at the door is generally the
most interesting OF all rural or urban
sounds, and the welcomest of all is that
which ushers in The valentine Visions
of love, of eupids, of hymen, delight
ful, eternal commonplace which have
been and which viii be, which no
4 schoolboy schoolmen can write away,
hang upon that missive. See the finger
carefully barsting it open, careful not
to break the enblematic seal, till at last
the we'll de- i9ued alleporv bursts upop
the sight. Listen, too, how the verses
are COINED over, verses not over abund.
ant, perhaps, IN sense, and yet not quite
silly-something betN cen wind and
water, as it were, a chorus when the
sheep might join the shepherd, as they
used to do in Arcadia. Who can tell OF
describe all the pleasures or conse-
quences of the tender missives of st.
Valentines day? 1Aa a