The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1902-12-12
THOUGHTS.

Enduring and Intimate love OF woman
/ for woman is 80 unusual thatitisremark-
able In every community there are,
Of cour,e, women, not related by blood,
who live together in peace and amity
through the revolving years, each deep
~ interested IN the others welfare, each
uuselhshly contributing to the happi-
ness Of the other; but they are always
thought as outof the ordinary. They
prove the rule by their very exception
10 il.
Affection between women is more OF
armistice than peace; more one ofdoubt
than Of trust, more oi shallowness than
depth; for the reason that Natures way
Is for Natures tide to set towards one
Of the opposite sex. Affection for an
other woman does not represent TO the
average woman's mind final or ell
during affection. 1t is, as it were, a
narrow stream to be one day swallowed
up in the vast ocean of final love.
Where then the intimacy and friend
ship between two women is so great
that they live together, the intrusion Of
man and his potentalities into the
Adamless Eden is for disquiet that is
disrupting, that breaks up resolutions
as to finality Of love one for the other,
that brings doubts, that causes distrust;
this is not perfect love "For the perfect
love casteth out fear"
The affection or supreme friendship
Of one man for another is far more like
Nv to be enduring aud free from the
fear Of an untimely and self-seeking
end; because it is not so much the all
embracing faculty with man that 1t
is with a woman Man has his broader
interests, his ambi tlons-though often |
stimulated by a woman-and these |
ambitions, purposes and hopes in the
world Of business and the world Of con- |
flict with natures forces cause love to
be to him part Of his life alone, while
to a woman, as a rule, it is her all. His
relations with his friend and fellow
have more complete trust in them and
less cause for total wreck.
Three great, true, unquestioning forms
Of love hold sway in this world and be-
side these there is no other love fire.
quent enough to be recognized as IN
evitable and therefore normal, the
love Of the parent for the child, the
love Of the child for the parent Though
this is not Inevitably and the love Of
woman for a man or a man for a
woman. This last love is based solely
upon selfrevelatiou, the sudden, start
ling realization that self is not COM
pleie by itself, that life will be worth
less if lived by itself, that hope and JOY
and everything that is to be desired in
this world rests in the hands Of the
other rs a gift to be bestowed, and as
gift that. if bestowed, Will bring happi-
ness that lasts as long as life lasts.
With this great sweeping, irresistible,
ever-potent impulse Of humanity, the
cold, twilight affection Of one woman
for another cannot compete.
The best basis for enduring affection
between women is the death Of hope
and the smitings Of aflliction. Where
such love does exist it is a beauteous
flower, springing from soil cultivated
i'm sorrow and narrowed in agony. 1t
shows how insisteut is the heartache
for some one to love and cherish,
though Natures one, great, usual chan
mel for Love is closed forever. Where
women love in a common sorrow, there
will be found the gentle souls who bless
a neighbOrhoOd with her kindness, and,
by their genial futtering interest in a
world that has no sweets for them,
show that they nevertheless do not
themselves feel soured.
RUTH TO NAOMI.
when passions Istorm passed earthward
from my heart,
And left me all forlorn and desolate,
] watched the weary dreary days depart
Too sad TO make my moan at cruel fate.
Until a rising tide ofreverent love,
That set toward the partner Of my grief
Up-drawn by shining powers TO heav'n
above.
Brought to my parched and wasted soul re-
lief
IwiIl not leave thee, dear, nor count the
cost:
For thou art more than mother now to me,
Since, In thine ofsprlng's life, my life was
lost,
As streams are lost that reach the open sea.
There is n tempered love OF friend to friend,
That sheds a steady light upon LIES path;
SO will we live together to the end