Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-08-05
The Poetry Of Housekeeping.

The decp-rootrd. indestructihI,. love OF
nome Is ON" OF the attributes OF women
ironi the cottage 10 the castle and tht
palace. Nay. it is more than an attribute
II IS an instinct as divinely implanted -
the love Tor children or respect fur the
laws OF kinShir and affection. There is IN
every womamS heart the desire for sweet
companion>hip in her things. 50 to speak
me Inevitable "Straugemrnt$. Tie gradua
changes. and the battling disappuntments
which are sur" {" east =. blightinE shadow
over the hdppi"St lot in -liiC. are more
calmly and philnSephicullY endured hy tn,
woman VIII" finds i refuge in her home
The well ordered House Is Il CONSIDER. and
offers at once :; warm mantle of romfor,
to her whom III" cold BLASTS of misfortune
have aSSailcd 1t is tho Very Saurt." ~
we'll as III" very abode OF light. and il
that light b. darkness. how great is that
darkness. The traditions ana rCcollec-
tions OF a happy home. are guardian an
gels which walk with Il man through al
the by-ways and highways OF outy anu
adventure: and he who has not been
blessed with IL home. in its truest ard
highest scnst is already handicapped il
the great drama of life, where he is t.
play his part.
1t is true. in every sense. in which n
thing can be true. that although men
build the houses women make the homes
for more true than the hacknpytd saying
that POOLS build houses for wise men t.
live in. That feminine characteristic
which seeks to lavish tine, money and
adornment on the home is not without its
purpose and is quite as God-givcn as any
endowment of mind. That peculiar in
detinable charm which the refined and
capable woman imparts to the most UNI
promising erection of boards or bricks
and mortar is Il most potent factor in the
evolution of thought and the development
of character Tie little things of Il home
contribute largely to tn" great things of
life. said Sophie Charlotte. queen of
er: "Leibnitz talked to me of the infinitely
Httlc-mon Divu as if L did not know
enough of that" And what houSekeeper
docs not realize the Importance and per-
sistcncN Of little things
II, as Goethe says. life is n quarry out
of which we are To mould and ohsel a
Character. the home may be said to fur
nisi the tools for the workman, for the
duties Of women in the home are the
foundations of human life and the mis-
treSScS of the home are the guides and
directors in the ways Of life. Flow much
Goethe. himself, oWpG to his mother, and
to that mother as a cultured and efficient
hOuSekecper, he has never neSitated to
acknowledge. Her work, thorough and
complete as it was in detail. was not
wanting IN ldcaliZatIon, rs was revealed
in her administration of household affairs,
the homeliCSt and most commonplace OF
which became beautiful i'll her hands.
Why should useful or necessary thing
be unsightly OF disgusting? If as Hannah
More says. the only evils in the world are
sin and bile. 1t is possible Tor the discreet
and efficient housekeeper to eliminate the
uGlinesS which seems inherent to a large
proportion Of the material with which
she is compelled to work. The way OF
putting things tells as much in house
keeping as in conversation. or argument.
The light and shade of furniture and tap
estry and wall paper. are no less effec-
tive than the light and shade of a paint
ing. We know the artists who gave us
exact and mathematically measured rep
resentations and we also know the artists
who idealize the most commonplace scene
until it tells the story that yenchants US.
f, Ityxaf int,h trt r.
ercisa of the imaginative faculty whose
source lies in a longing for perfection. and
a quick and sympathetic insight which
enables the poet, to detect 1t wherever it
may he found, and we have not yet
learned the lessons of nature or of ex-
perience ii we fail to discover the poetry