The St. Louis Republic., 1901-01-13
Alice and Phoebe Cary.

born In tho same house September 4. 1924
Alice died at New York February II. 1s7l.
and Phoebe lived but few months longer.
dying at Newport July g. ISL.
Tho sisters came OF New England an
cestry. Their parents were gentlefolk IN
the true sense OF the word: delicate mind
ed and rightly conducted. Death invaded the
family circle and took a dear little sister
and their beautiful older sister. Rhoda-
Their mother died in 1885. and two years
later Robert Cary married again. The bi-
ographer OF the sisters remarks upon the
lack OF sympathy felt by their stepmother
for the ambitions of Alice and Phoebe. Ada
Carnahan. & niece. wrote Of their expert
encs at this time:
alice kept busily at work during the
day. prosecuting her studies at night This
was q fruitful source Of dissension between
herself and stepmother. who could not be-
leve that burning candles for this purpose
wes either proper or profitable; that read
ing books was better than darning socks
or writing poems better than making bread.
But the country girls. uncultured In mind
and rustic IN manners. not needing to be
told the immense distance which separated
them from the world Of letters they longed
20 enter. would not be discouraged II they
must darn and bake. they would also
study and write. and at last publish. IL
candles were denied them. a saucer OF lard
and a bit OF rag for wick could. and did.
serve instead. and so. for ten long years,
they studied and wrote and published with
out pecuniary recompense: often discour-
aged and despondent, yet never despairing;
lonely and grown overssnsitive. prone to
think themselves neglected and slighted.
L.fv- ffrrf1a in
scious superiority"
Their poems were published here and
there In church journals. newspapers. and
sometimes in the Ladies' Repository and
Graham's Magazine Their work attracted
the attention OF Rufus W. Griswold OF
Graham's Magazine. and in 1873. finding
himself IN their neishborhood. Horace
Greeley paid visit to their home. In the
same year a modest little book, poems Of
Alice and Phoebe Cary" was published.
The year 1880 saw the two sisters on
Journey, the first important one OF their
lives. They went East, to New York and
Boston, and to Amesbury. to see Whittier.
The Quaker poet has cOmmemOrated this
visit In a poem. The Singer" which be-
gins:
Years since Out names to me befOre).
Two sisters sought at my door.
Two song birds wandering from their nest.
gray old farmhouse In the West
Timid and young. the elder had
Even then q smile too sweetly sad:
The crown OF pain that all must
Too early pressed her midnight hair.
It was in this year that Alice Cary went
20 New York TO seek her fortune. She
was a little sad. very ambitious and pos
sessed OF very little money. Mrs Ames.
biographer OF the sisters. writes:
Had Alice married the man whom she
then loved she would have never come TO
New York at all TO coin the rare gifts OF
her brain and soul into money for shelter
and bread. Business interests had brought
into her Western neighborhood man at
that time much her superior IN years. cul-
ture and fortune Naturally he sought the
society of a young, lovely woman. SO su-
perior to her surroundings. To Alice no
was the man Of men. Alice Cary loved
this man. and in the profoundest sense she
never loved another A proud and pros
porous family brought all their pride and
power TO bear on a son. TO prevent his
a girl TO them uneducated. rustic
and poor 4 waited for one who never
came back she said Yet 1 believed he
would come till 1 read in a paper his mar
rage 10 another. Can you think what life
would believing one. waiting for one who |
would never conner"
'He did come at last. His wife had died. |
Alice was dying. The gray-haired man sat
down beside the gray-haired woman. Life
had dealt prosperously with him. Suffer |
ing had taken all from her save the luster |
Of her wondrous eyes. From her wan and !
wasted face they shone upon him full OF
tenderness and youth. Thus they met with |
life behind them-they who had parted |
plighted lovers when life was young. He |
was the man whom she fOrgave for her |
blighted and weary life. with smile OF |
parting as divine as ever lit the face of |
woman" |
In the spring of 1851 Phoebe and a |
sister Joined Alice at New York. |
and success came TO them Horace Greeley |
was their friend. and their names were |
known among the literary. They soon had |
a Wild circle of friends. and for wears |
there was a gathering of the best and |
brightest OF the city's workers and think |
ers at their home in Twentieth street. |
which Alice had bought. They were pros |
porous. these two brave women.
Years ago." writes Mrs. Ames. "in an
old academy in Massachusetts,, It's precept- |
Or gave to a young girl a poem TO learn for |
a Wednesday exercise. 1t was Alice Ca |
rvs Pictures OF Memory After the girl |
had recited the poem to her teacher he told
her that Edgar Allan Poe had said that In |
rhythm 1t was one of the most perfect |
lyrics in the English language. He told
10 her the story OF the two sisters ana II
was as romance 10 her. /
In 1851 the school girl. then a woman |
was in a New York drawing-room where |
were gathered many distinguished folk. |
and in some Of them she was disappointed. |
but not in Alice Cary. Her eyes were sort |
and sad. and lustrous brown They lit a |
ene. colorless face. Her Dress was OF pale |
Kray satin. trimmed with folds Of ruby |
velvet: a dress like herself and her lie
soft and sad in the background, bordered |
with brightness. From that evening began |
a friendship between the two women which |
lasted for life.
Here is Alice Cary's Pictures OF Men, |
ory'': .,,., .,.,..
That hang on MeTnory's wall.
Is one OF a dim old forest.
That seemed best Of all:
Not for its gnarled oaks olden.
Dark with the mistletoe:
Not Sor the violets golden
That sprinkle the vale below;
Not for the milk-white lilies
That lean from the fragrant ledge.
Coquetting all day with the sunbeams.
And stealing their golden edge:
Not for the vines Of the upland
= Where the bright red berries rest.
Nor the pinks nor the pale sweet cowslip.
II seemeth to me the best
I once had a little brother.
With eyes that were dark and deep: