The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1889-04-20
DOHEARTS EVER BREAK?
Acute Miseries Often Memorized
into Chronic Grief.
Ambition or Even Duty May Assuage and
Indeed Quite Heal the Wounds of
the Sighted Lover-The Wor-
ship OF Realities.


story of 1.-The Broken Heart" no one
else has ventured to write one bearing
similar title. We have grown more
cynical and literal. 1t has been shown
that anatomically speaking. hearts do
not break-at least, they. very seldom
do-and we refuse to accept the
phrase in its metaphorical implica-
ton. Probably no burlesque was ever
more enjoyed than Camille; or the
Cracked Heart" It's enormous alb
surdity was Endorsed as a just satire
upon the facility with which that or
gan was assumed to be shattered. At
very long intervals we read in the
newspapers OF a heart that has liter
ally burst from excess of anguish in
the person whose life blood it pro-
peeled. Such physiological phenom-
enon Is sure to awaken interest at a
period which worships reality so much
that when Joshua Whitcomb in the
Old Homestead washes his face
with actual water from 8 bona
. tide pump, the audience breaks
into % fapturous applause. But in
hearts that metaphorically break there
Is little. belief. The world is apt to
turn up its nose at them and say it is
pity they had nothing better to do.
The world believes in being amused
when it is not at work; and there is no
amusement in discovering that here and
there human being is so worried and
stricken with life's bewilderment as no
longer to be capable of holding up
against it bravely.
There are good many strong and
coarsely healthy natures. incapable of
feeling pleasure or pain with extreme
Intensity, who take the ground that
nothing is worth that abandonment of
sorrow which leaves mind or body too
weak for battle. Take, for instance,
one of the deepest OF all griefs, the
treachery, perfdy and ingratitude Of
one whom we have long and profound-
eddy loved, inswhom we believed more.
completely than in ourselves; FOR whom
we would have laid down. If necessary,
almost all that the world esteems good. 4
Whence Is the compensation to come
that shall be balm to the wounded
spirit, cause it to feel any thing like the
happiness which once isdelt, and pre-
sent to the imagination aught wher6-
with memory will not interfere by CALI
ing back the presence that has SO won-
tonly departedP What is the secret
which explains the fact that we still
cling, perhaps through years, perhaps
through lifetime, to tendcrest recol-
lections of those who have repaid love
with insolence, devotion with indiffer-
ence, generosity with selfishness, mag
nanimity with meannessp Is such
tenacity weakness? Then 1t is weak
ness in which some OF the best women
excel and some OF the best men are
proficient. Is 1t explicable on the as
sumption that those who are as faith
less rs they are fascinating have an in
defectible charm of temperament and
manner which is the rarest possession
of the most invincible virtuep Do the
false and the treacherous bind us by
q spell which honor might be glad to
ownp Does Lothario remain potent,
even to those he has abandoned, be-
cause his magnetism is sweeter, finer,
,subtler than Chevalier Bayard'sP
Then again, do hearts really break?
always in the metaphysical meaning.
Is the shocs ever so violent and per-
manent that life loses forever after
considerable portion Of the comfort
and happiness il formerly hadP Does
not the deceived friend. when the
frenzy of the first twenty -four hours is
over, soon recover from his disillusien9
and not only conduct his business as
though nothing important had hap
pened, but eat with undiminished ap-l
petite and sleep dreamlessly and wellp
Does Werther. even If he ahstains from
suicide, always live on with heart
which simply performs its muscular
duty In q manner more or less inn
paired, to be sure, but which never
more beats TO passion, because passion
can never more be fsltf Are there not