The Washington herald., 1908-01-09
THE OPTIMIST.


pithy and to the point to say on many
questions important to human life, dis
coursed nowhere more pleasantly than on
the subject of absence. In one OF his
Spectator letters he writes:
Absence is what the poets call Death IN Love and
bias given OCCASION 20 abundance Of beautiful com
plants in those authors who have treated Of this
passion IN verse Ovid's eDistles are full Of them.
0tvoy'5 MoHima talks very tenderly upon this sub
ject.
II was not kind
10 leave me like a turtle. here alone,
To droop and mourn the absence Of my mate
When tbou art from me every place Is desert;
And ! methiuks ana savage and foriorn.
Tiny presence only tbs oaa make me blessed,
Heal my uuquiet mind and time my soul
Nothing, perhaps. that ever poet wrote
is farther from the truth than that trite
quotation. Absence makes the heart grow
fonder." Shakespeare rather agreed with
that, believing-as so many people be-
lieve, and. as I think. wrongly-that sure
ness Of possession leads one 10 think
lightly Of the thing possessed. Shakes
peare said on this point:
It 80 falls cut
That shat have we prize not 10 the worth
Whites We enjoy H. but being lacked and lost,
Why. then We mck the value
He who can think Of absence as q
blessing must be one vino has never
realized the full value or use Of true
friend or true love. Friendship and love
are not mere emotions; mere thrills Of the
soul that have no other use but the
qualification and the pleasure Of the mo-
ment They go far deeper than this. and
have a much moro significant meaning.
Friendship and love are OF value 10 our
souls because OF their effect on our lives.
The daily influence of our friends or Of
those whom we love must be for the
good. If il were not. then friendship as
well as love would quickly disappear.
For the soul and heart OF man-no mat
ter who he is or what his condition of
life-is always upward Sink he must
at times below the high level which he
would attain. but always there follows
remorse for the failure. regret for the
slipping hack. and if a man be strong
and worthy. resolves for the future
II is in the making and keeping. the
living up to these resolves that We ind
the help Of love and friendship invaluable
10 our spirits, and he is a stupid indeed
who cannot see that absence is bound
inevitably 20 weaken the chain by which
we are bound to higher things. AS Pope
says
V flowers that droop. forzakeu 10y she spring
g birds that. left by sumner clase 20 sing:
1r trees thar fade. Ehen autumn heats remove
Say. Is not absence death % those who love-
7 like that one Of Scudery's romances
foil q Ia raF IA u
lovers who agreed at their parting TO set
aside one-half hour each day to think OF
each other during an absence that threat
ened 10 be tedious They kept the agree
ment. and whatever business they were
engaged in or whatever company they
We're in, they went 20 their agreed
thoughts when the clock struck the hour
The romance further states that the
lovers awaited this stated hour with as
much devotion and Impotence as if il
had been a real designation. and they
enjoyed the imaginary happiness almost
as pleasing as If it had been a real meet.
ing. Says the romancer. 1t was an
inexpressibIe satisfaction TO these divided
lovers to be assured that each was al the
same time employed in the same kind OF
contemplation, and making equal returns
Of tenderness and affection"
Now. that Is absence AT its worthiest
and that device OF these romantic lovers
is perhaps the best that could be in.
vented 10 make absence tolerable: and
vet. after all how weak are thoughts
and absent resolutions when compared
with the real presence. the real influence
of friend or loved one
No, absence Is anything but a blessing
being one Of those ills Of life which ear
only be borne with equanimity and heroic
. self-repTpsgiOn- Indeed. the better par
Of ourselves is with our friends and those
who love us. and IL is this thought ina
Cowley expressed when he wrote In hi.
old-fashioned way
Absenrp Is good for this. that 10 has shown
H0v IN my life Is banded by thv own
The clouds are dark upon me- and tire night
Falls sad ard gio0my, lacking thee-mg light
Bat part 0f me is here, and that ac-rst.
Thou hast mv best ih0ughts-I lie here with ml
worst.
u thou wilt not come back I needs must fall;
. N4t4ffrr sEr trgiaaraa r1r s-r-f