The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-04-19
insane OYER
POEM Of LOVE
Robert Thompson's Unhappy
Fate Leads to MadhOuse.
SOUGHT WOMAN 20 YEARS
Who Wrote Poem and Found
Matron of Fifty.

II turned him from a charming and
lovely girl he was about 10 marry, it
made him a wanderer over the land in
an unsuccessful search for an unknown
The shrewd successful young business
man became a dreamer OF dreams His
thoughts ever turned 10 the verses In
which a romantic young woman present
ed her conception OF the ideal husband
The poem revolutionized the mans
whole idea OF matrimony. making IL APP
pear 10 him nobler, grander. holier thing
than he had imagined. II made him feel
that the author OF the poem was the only
woman in the world for him
He worshipped her for twenty-three
years without knowing who she vas She
was as real 10 him as the people he met
every day Scarce a walking hour IN all
that time passed without 4 thought Of
her. without a hope that they would
meet
Now and then he would go in search OF
her. He came 10 believe that when he
found her she would see that he could
live up TO the high ideal she had placed
before him He came TO believe that when
they met she would love him as he loved
her
"A woman's Love Dream" had become
his love dream, and It did not enter his
head that the dreams Of girl OF eighteen
and those OF a woman approaching mid
dIe-llfe are very different
When, seven years ago. Thompson
learned that the poem had been written
by Nellie Houston. a daughter OF Gen
Sam Houston. Of Texas. and that she
was married. the shock to him was ire
mendous.
The love dream OF more than twenty
years had become an integral part OF his
being. the most real thing in his hfe.
He resumed the dreary business Of liv-
ing but his existence seemed empty when
he sought TO realize that the source of
his inspiration for nearly a quarter OF a
century had been destroyed But the
habit OF work was strong upon him His
business acunen did not seem in the least
impaired He prospered. and was 10 all
the world the normal. successful man OF
affairs.
For seven years after he discovered that
the author OF the poem was married.
Thompson lived among the ruins Of the
the temple Of his Iove-dream. Then came
upon the woman he had so long sdored-
He journeyed 70 New Orleans. during
the Mardi Gras. after he learned that she
was TO be there. He saw her. She was
n comfortable matron Of fifty And
Thompson always pictured her as a young
girl. radiant. beautiful. upIifted BY the
lofty ideals,
He came back home. The utter wreck
Of all his hopes and plans destroyed his
reason Now he Is in a mad-house.
But the poem and the love for the NO
man who wrote il stiII dominate him. In
his delirium he raves about her daughter,
whom he has never seen. believing that
fate has decreed that she shall take the
place OF the mother he so long worship
ped.
Maybe a cynlcc might say that Thonnp-
son has met the fate most likely 10 over
take any man who seeks 70 live UP 10 the
ideals Of a young woman expressed in
verse Psychologists NAV lezrnediy ex-
plain thu effect OF the verses upon a mind
attuned o synchronatic receptiveness-
but these things are the msrest chat
remarkable romance
Long OeLgEE Miss NFiAlE El0E@AVN "
came Mrs. Bringhurst- and before she
loved any man outside the members OF
her family. she set down in very good
blank verse some very fine and noble
sentiments. which appeaIed 70 her more
as poetry than as facts.
This poem. which she called a Wo-
mans Love Dream met with very grea,
favor with other women who dreamed ths
same dreams, but who had not the art
OF expressing them 50 admirably. And
because editors realized this they gave n.
poem wide circulation. usually without
printing the authors name.
II was the III fortune q Thompson q
come across the verses az a tine they had
power to affect him profoundly.
He had been living q life in no way oct
OF the ordinary He had received n.
education necessary % - him for SIC
cesstui business career. He liked 20 read
but had no particular knovlesiEe % q
fondnsss for poetry. H had fallen If
love With a very charming Young LADY
and was engaged 70 MARI her.
she was stricken ~ typhoi5 fever. H
cared for her zifh devotion that wa'
remarkable Through her long Illness shs
cane 20 rely upon him absolutely. II
became her nurse as well a. her ioTeT
He SD many si.~pisss nights a. Eer
side There zas 10 szcrface - was no'
hsppv % make for H. beloved
when the crisis was passed ard ~
anancse was On he road 20 recCvsrs
( Thompson vas exhzus-ed mentally srz
+ physically ~ rs long viEslE ana rs arr
/ isty
u vas While Re zas fl tbs rate ina
h sccie-ntaBy cane across ne posu
I written by Nellie Hocstoz q keF far-o1
( Texas house-
Il ehaaxsd the Whole rzfsrs e the rzn
A. red. - ~ extraordinary er5o.fo-
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- hsru ;aaz = stranger. While before hi-
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