The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1888-03-17
wHEM THE spRINerIME CONES.

Now and then some stray associ- \
alton recalls one or the other of
them, and we are again in the ro-
mantie land of youth. There was
one song that people nsed to sing |
"before the war; which comes /
back to us with the bloom and |
sunshine of the turning year.
"Genlle Annie" it was called.
Only a few words--just a catch
are remembered now: "Whcn
the springiinlc comes, Gentle An
ME, Aud the wild flowers are stat
tered o'er the plain We fancy
1t was not what critic would
call great poetry or grand music
but we know that the verse ard
the melody accorded well, aud
that both were sad and sweet.
The story told by that old song
has bscn forgotten, but then 1t is
asy to reconstruct il from the
the words we Lave quoted, "When
the springtime comes, Gentle An
ME, aud lie wild flowers arc scat
tered o'cr the plain" Annie was
4 graceful and gracious girl whose
Young life was glad with the gifts
aud bright with the promise Of
I the spring. She was like Wild
flower, more sweet by nature than
~ culture, aud whom an.uatime'y
frost had stricken her with the
chill Of death they buried her III
a rural graveyard where plants
that had never known a gardener 5
care laid up a store for the honey
bee. And SO with zach recurring
spring, when ths wild flowers
wele scattered DER the plain, her
old friends thought of her more
tenderIy and were comforled to
think that The wood>violets be-
meath whose roots she slept we're
typical Of The now lie reserved
for her who had kept herself un-
spotted from the world.
How many homes, low many
hearts, are cheercJ by thought
like this even now when winter
is still lingering ii the lap Of
spring. Ii is the lmmemorial poe
try OF the season abounding in all
nature, and it touches the hearts
of the wise as we'll as of the sim
pie. When Goethe was very
old man he rode out one spring
day some distance into the coun-
try. The tender green Of TIC
young leaves, the blush Of the
roses in the way side gardens, The
streams set free and flashing ii
the sunlight, the songs Of tbs
nest-buifiing birds, the magniii-
cent blue dome of heaven, the
tonic atmosphere filling 10 the
brIm the mighty day-cup, re
joiced the old poets heart, ant
he expressed his Joy IN the hop
oflmmortalty. A dull man might
contend that u bright spring day
in a temperate latitude was IL
proof OF life eternqI; but Goethe
who had studied every hing
seemed to think differently. Per
haps another poet, Robcrt Burns
namely, stated the argument mo:
EXPLICITLY in letter that lie vi lot'
to his friend, Mrs. Dunlop, n hun
dred years ago next New Year
day: II have some favorite flow
ers in spring." he wrote, "amon,
: which are the mouutain-daisy, tn,
harebcll, the foxgIovc, The viii,
brier roee, the bidding birch, anc
the hoary hawthorn, that l view
and hang over with particular de
light. | never hear the lou,
whistle of the curlew ina summe
noon, or tie wild mixing cadeuc,
: of troop of gray ployers In al
autumnal morning, without feel
ing an elevation Of soul like th,
} enthusiasm Of devotion or poetry
: Tell me, my dear friend, to wha
can this be owing? Are we
piece of machinery, which, lik
the Atolian harp, passive take
, the impression of the passing ac
, cidcnt? Or do these working
argue something within us a5ov,
tho trodden clod? own mysel
partial to such proofs Of thos,
awful and important realities
God that made all ihrngs-man'
immatcrial and immortal natur
and a world Of veal or p-oe be
yond death ard the gave =
1t strikes us that this oreumep
holds good. If mar were a merl
mechanism be would be no nor,
conscious OF the glciy and bcaut'
oisalure ilan the E1olian harp !
Of the music with which it throb
md trembles. A conscious ma
chine IS Hlconccivablc, unthinls
able.
i "a the winter time it is sasie