The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-05-28

the mist even the nearer peaks loom
obscurely among the heavy clouds. II
is a day to give to ones self. The read
ing of a favorite book would afford you
a double pleasure at such time. II you
chance to be a woman whose years
have brought the "philosophic mind,
there are many ways in which you can
beguile the hours and cheat them OF
gloom But if you are young, say IN
your girlhood, you will revel in the
dreariness about you. That's note
worthy thing in girl-nature, the pro-
found pleasure that the young Female
so often finds in sadness. | have not
meant to be paradoxical in writing
that last sentence. There is a literal
eXactneSs in it.
A girl may be ever so buoyaHt in
her lighter moods, but she will be no
real life-like girl unless she is crea-
ture of moods-grave and gay, by
turns Her physical condition may
affect her and cause these mercurial
changes of spirit, but which of us, man
or Woman--is not affected?
When Carlyle settled for himself the
tremendous questions that dealt with
his religious nature, did not Froude
claim that, instead of having expert
enced a change of heart the Scotch
philosopher had simply brought up the
horseback rides through the Craiben
puttock country?
Be that as 1t may, the truth remainI
that we are greatly influenced by every
change in our bodily condition. Tr&e
wisdom comes when we learn to p
cOgnize this and act accordingly.
But the girl has not yet learneHhe
truth and often when she ought be
out doors feeling the beneficent Ewer
lr,fr 9th licrh oh &c n n sal'
the strain of unwholesOme suNDund-
; ings and unsound ambitions feady,
the while, to fall into moods Rtat are
] akin to sadness at any rate. ~
Is it peculiarly characteristic of
girls to believe that they arefmisunder-
, stood? l have never knoWh boys to
show any tragic interest IN the ques-
ton as to whether or not people could
understand them. If It qDce occurred
l daresay he'd like to 10 something
promptly to increase bat mystifica-
ton. But my experMace with the
genus is that it's menu Yrs are usually
busy mystifying us shout thinking
or caring that they akNdoing SO.
A girl is more dMDsed to brood
over herself and in Y mental state. l
! through lack of expression as did
Helen Keller Before her teacher
opened up the World of beauty about
her. In such m6ods as these the girl
fairly gloats ovgrsuch poetry as,
My life is cotd and dark and dreary,
1t rains and the mind is never weary"
Speaking of ambition and self-ex-
preston reminds me 49,. &.
This present scribe has always had a
great love for poetry. The first "compo-
sition" she ever essayed had i'm it a few
i original, very original, lines of verse.
There was something about the RAIN
bow and the rose. then followed the
thrilling line (by way Of rhyme)-
"The dewdrop twinkled on the violet's
nose"
That was long years ago but the habit
then formed has never been entirely
I broken.
The love of poetry has amounted to a
passion i'm her soul, but there has not
been a moment, since she reached the
years of accountability, i'm which she
believed herself capable of writing real
poetry Still she would sometimes
clothe her thoughts in verse-poetry
for the sake of self-expression and
partly for the purpose of acquiring a
DETER use OF WOfdS IN prose.
"Fair reader" as the old-time novel
lists would say, / am taking you into
my confidence. Do you know of Mr..
Baldwins work among the mill people
of Charlotte? How he. is giving so
much of his time and strength and
soul--so much of himself-for the
betterment of the young folks in the
mill district of the town?
You know, possibly that he has just
lately gotten out special edition of
the Chronicle for the benefit of his
school. Well Mr.. Baldwin wrote asking
me to send him a poem for that num-
Der. / never inquired how he happened
to do this. 1t may have been because
he is a friend of the preacher who
breaches for me free of charge. AT any
rate / did the best / could and sent
him some lines-home- made poetry,
as a friend calls it in no very compli-
mentary spirit.
Mr.. Baldwin behaved beautifully. He
evidently was pleased but / remem-
bered that while he is a minister, he
could not even lay claim to being a
lay delegate in any great conference of
poets. SO | took his approval calmly
and did not become unduly puffed up
therby. However, when Mr.. John
Charles Mcneil wrote me a nice little
letter and said good thing about this
particular bit of verse, / began to take
notice. You see Mr.. Mcneil is a man
who writes poetry Gas is poetry" and
his opinion made me think there might
be something in those lines, after all.
Just between You and me- there de-
veloped quite a fiutter of expectancy
about my heart in the days that inter-
vened between the receipt of the letter
and the appearance of the Chronicle.
Would it not be well for me to cult
vate the Muse more assidiously? I had
but tritied with her i'm a half-hearted
way. What if further effort, more alb
sOrbing devotion, should prove that
there are dormant powers within me,
undreamed of by myself? VIII it not
be worth while to try ones best? Can
the bird know its skyward- reaching
strength till it wings it's upward flight?
Then there's Mrs. Patterson's Low
ing-cup! Suppose a poem should spring
fresh from my brain. full of the grace.
the flavor. the beauty, the mystery,
that lie deep in the soul of us!
/ had thought Mr. Stockard, after
his "Appomattox, would be sure to
have the cup the first year, unless Mr.
Mcneil should chance to forge ahead
of him-but-wh knows?
The Chronicle special came. If you