Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1904-02-11

Emily present this little trifle to
one who she regards More than
seventy-five years ago Emily took up
her quill pen and in dainty characters
wrote the dedication on the fly leaf
OF Friendships Offering" In spite OF
her bad grammar a glance at the fad
ed and delicate writing with its quaint
fourishes and aristocratic angles Is
enough to prove that Emily was a
fine young lady and that she really
meant at least little more than she
said.
Poor Emily. Her lilies and roses
are long withered, along with the
other flowers which bloomed in the
reign Of King George ~, to whose
Most Excellent Majesty" the little
morocco bound volume is dedicated.
And zone who she regards" has
gone also with the rest Were they
married one day-Emily and "one
who she regards? Or did Emily die
early of broken heart, perhaps?
Her handwriting looks as If she
might have easily fallen a victim to
|
did "one who she regards" leave Emily
behind and come to the States to seek
| his fortune? Certainly in some way
the book which Emily gave him as a
valentine in 1926 found its way to
this country and, passing from hand
to hand, finally turned up on the stalls
| Of little secondhand book shop in
the French quarter of old New Or
loans.
The little book Is spotted with
brown and yellow now; its morocco
cover Is badly marked and torn. But
for the sake of the unknown but dear
and dainty Emily-as well as for its
| own-it shall be cherished hereafter
and given such care as Emily herself
might wish for "the little trifle" which
! perhaps told a tender secret to the
unnamed man who was its original
| owner.
Friendships Offering" is fat and
sturdy little book of nearly 400 pages.
1t was handsomely and well bound, as
is proven by the fact that even today
1t makes gay show with the gold
rosebuds and scrolls stamped on its
back. 1t was one OF that great crop
OF ANIMALS which people Of good con-
dition were wont to send to their
| friends on the recurrence of New
Years and st. Valentines days
We do such things differently now.
Instead of volume OF 400 pages
stuffed with stilted verses and tragic
tales written by as many lords and
Ladies-nothing less than Esquires
being admitted under any circum-
stances-we send to our friends a gay
card stamped out of cOlored paper by
a machine. And we pick up this old
volume of Friendships Offering" and
laugh as we look over the table of
! contents.
But poor Emily's long forgotten
love affair is not the only ancient
memory revived by a glance at the
little book. Buried in its table OF con-
tents are the names of twenty peo-
pie who in their day were famous as
literary lights. but who have long
since flickered out into oblivion.
| Who remembers Mona, Eliza Caro-
line and the rest, whose Legendary
| clduIdo, nOmdullC ldIeS, anu
Lines to a Wreath of Dead Flowers"
moved Emily and her sisters of the
1S20s to tears? Who remembers Ber-
nard Barton, the Quaker poet and
friend of Lamb? Least of all. what
modern reader would follow him as
for half dozen pages or more he
| Threads with slow and mournful steps
|-the~lOved and lonely shore?" Lord
Byron died less than two years before
this volume Of Friendships Offer
ing" was printed, and it Is pretty full
OF newly found verses by his Lord
ship. Mr.. Washington Irving sends
some verses by his late Lordship,
extracted by that gentleman from the
album OF Captain Medwin," and 1t
only needs a glance at the first line
"Be 1t so-we part forever"-to recog-
nize the true Byronic favor.
Lady Caroline Lamb, who had been
separated from her husband the year
before, and whose intrigues with Lord
Byron we're still familiar, extracted
from her album" another set Of verses
by his late Lordship, the perusal of
which at this date Is likely to provoke
smile of amusement-they are so
typical of the strained and grandilo.
quent poet.
In all the emphasis and extraya-
gance of italics and capital letters,
Lord Byron implores Lady Caroline to
let him go and, Lady Caroline appar-
emily takes a malicious pleasure in
printing the verses by way Of showing
that the poet was much In love with
her.
Since still the vulture tears my heart
| Let me this agony endure,
| Not thes>-O! dearest as thou art!
In mercy. Clara. let Us part!
Who is writing poetry of this kind
now? And II such poetry were writ
ten, who would read It?
There is one paper In friendships
Offering" which might well furnish a
text for some one VINO Is anxious to