Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1901-11-14

! variably write of sorrow. Naturally
of happy disposition, had my moods
of depression, veritable Injuries OF
misery.
There was continual worry at home.
No one was resigned or philosophical
My mother hated her Woodworking lot,
for which she was totally untitled, and
constantly rebelled against it, like a
Gagged animal beating against iron
bars; while she did her distasteful
| tasks with Spartan-like adherence to
duty, doubling the dominance Of an all.
wise ruler who could condemn her to
such lot. Like thousands of others
in the world, she had not learned that
through love and faith only do condi-
tions change for the better.
The home was pervaded by an
atmosphere of discomfort and fatigue
From reincarnated sources and
through prenatal causes l was born
with unauenchable hope and unfalter-
ing faith in God and guardian spirits.
| often wept myself 20 sleep after
day of .disappointments and worries,
but woke in the morning singing aloud
with the joy of life.
| always expected wonderful things
to happen to me.
In some of the hardest days, when
everything went wrong with everybody
at home and all my manuscripts came
back for six weeks at time without
one acceptance, l recall looking out of
my little north window upon the lone
| ly road bordered with lonelier Lom-
hardy poplars, and thinking, before
night something beautiful will hap
pen to change everything" There
was so much | wanted! wanted to
bestow comfort, ease and pleasure on
everybody at home. wanted lovely
gowns--ah how l wanted themi--
and travel and accomplishments.
wanted summers by the seattle sea
which l had read of, but had never
seen-and on moonlight nights these
longings grew so aggressive / often
pinned the curtain down and shut out
| the rays that seemed to intensity my
| loneliness, and | would creep into my
little couch under the sloping caves,
musing, Another beautiful night of
youth wasted and lost" And would
waken happy in spite of myself and
put all my previous melancholy into
verses--and dollars.
| Once l read a sentence which be.
came life-motto for me: IF you
haven't what you like, try to like what
you have"
The elder children married and had
cares of their own. / was so sorry
for them-missing the beautiful things
knew life held.
Slowly, so slowly, it seemd to me,
my work and my income increased.
longed for sudden success, for sudden
wealth. 1t was so hard to wait
there was so much to be done. There
was a gentle hill south OF the house;
often on summer evenings, after writ
ing all day, | climbed this ascent al
sunset and looked eastward, wondering
what lay for me beyond the horizon
/ always had the idea that my future
would be associated with the far west
yet it was to the east i invariably
looked My knowledge of the east was
bounded by Milwaukee and Chicago
the goal of happy visits two or three
times a year.
Sometimes | walked through the
pasture and young woods, a half mile,
to call on Emma, the one friend who
knew and sympathized with all the
family troubles. And Emma would
walk back with me, and we would
wonder how many years longer these
walks and talks would continue for
my work, and she and her gentle
mother rejoiced in them as If they
were their own personal triumph.
Such restful walks and talks they al
ways were. Dear Emma!
Created Sensation.
When publishing Maurine had pur-
posely omitted more than twoscore
poems of a very romantic nature In
order to save the volume from too
much sentiment. Letters began to
come to me requesting copies Of these
lverses-ardent love-songs which had
appeared in various periodicals. This
suggested to me the idea of issuing a
book of love-poems to be called"Poems
of Passion" To think was to do-for
l possessed more activity than caution
in those days.
AS just related, every poem In the
book had been published in various
periodicals and had brought forth no
criticism. My amazement can hardly
be imagined, therefore, when Jansen
& McClurg returned the manuscript OF
my volume, intimating that it was i'm.
moral. | told the contents of their
letter to friends in Milwaukee, and II
reached the ears of sensational
morning newspaper. The next day a
column article appeared with large
headlines:
| "Too Loud for Chicago
The Scarlet City by the Lake Shocked
By Badger Girl, Whose Verses out
Swinburne Swinburne and out
Whitman Whitman"
Every newspaper in the land caught
up the story, and found myself an OBJ
ject Of unpleasant notoriety in a brief
space of time. had always been a