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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1884)
20 THE WEST SHOBE. The love you lx.re to him i .... fniir unl.l Mil, more iijf'ii . . , ,,. I... first lis-cd names -your name iuki .I.m.M.mI in strength, now that he asks innocently to he U.uU ,.f U.U -r that, and promise you, by tlmt quick curiosity that Hi.hIi.-h in hi n'"1 fuU ot 11Hem gcnce. . Ami some lmirl.ivM.ltli escac by sea or flood that he ,.rh...H may Imv.' Im.l whirl. unstrung your soul to such tears nit you pray (I.kI may bo spared you again has endeared the little fellow to your heart a thousand fold. And now, with his pale sister in tho grave, nil Unit love Iiiih conic away from the mound, where worms feast, and centres on the IhiV. How von watch the storms lent they harm him! How oflen vni steal to his bed late at night, ami lay your haml lightly uiii the l.row, where the curl cIuhUt thick, rising Mini falling with the throbbing temples, anil watch, for iiTini.teM together, Urn little lips half parted, and listen- Votir ear close to them if the breathing lie regular and HWeel! 1 iil the day comes the night riithrti' - when you can catch no breathing. Ave, put your hair away; compose yourself; listen again. No, there is nothing! I'ut your hand now to his l.row; damp, indeed, but not with healthful night sleep; it is not your hand; no, do not dis-cive yourself ; it is your loved lmy's forehead that is so cold; and your loved hoy will never speak to you again never play again he is dead! Oh, the tears the tears; w hat blessed things are h'nrs Never fear now to let them fall on his forehead, or his lip, lest you waken him! ('limp him clasp him harder yoit cannot hurt you cannot waken him! Lay him down, gently or not, it is the same; he is stiff; he is stark am cold. Hut courage isclastic; it is our pride. It recovers itsel eai.ier, thought 1, than these en.liers will pet into blaze again. Hut coiiru.ie, and patience, and faith, and hope have men limn. JUcsse.1 Im the limn who escitics such triii us will determine limit! In n lone man it conies not near; for how can triii take hol.l where there is nothing by which to try? A f iiiiitrnl ') V.o, .1:1 i . """il mi pi.iiosopnv. a tirave ...... I 'J v ... -. i t . 1 ' jiioir urn rem. nervey ami muse iiimhi the wall friend dies? Y.m sigh, yu pat your dog; it is ver Y.vu retrench; yu lilit your pi,.; it isUgot ten Calumny? You laugh Vou sleep. ful and kind say "It is enough"? Can you sneer at calumny and sit by your fire dozing? Blessed, thought I again, is the man who escapes such I trial as will measure tne iimu uj. "mum. i . . . . i Hut with that childless wife clinging to you in 1, nml sorrow what then? Cm. yu Uke down Sen.-ca iw.w and coolly Mw the .... , , . ,.,,. i an you crimp your lip with olU..rv? ( ,. nnioke idly, your feet dangling with J oK..sau v.ng fancies uinmn church vard wall - n wall that U.rderK tl . . . T" , . .... ho til YUlir IKV? 1 n yo ,,. younlf by turning stinging Martial n. rhyme? Can yo p,lt your dog, wingM w courage! But the trial comes: colder and comer were growing the embers. That wife, over whom your love broods, is lading. JNot , p v ii. j. l.o(- vmir liAnrt is wrnnnprl in beauty lading, umi, ww """" j " ler being, would be nothing. She sees with quick eye your dawning apprenension, and she tries hard to make that step of hers elastic. Your trials and your loves together have centred your affections. They are not now ns when you were a lone man, widespread and superficial. They have caught from domestic attachments a finer tone and touch. They can- not shoot out tendrils into barren world soil and suck up thence strengthening nutriment. They have grown under the forcing-glass of home-roof; they will not now benr exposure. You do not now look men m the face as if a heart- bond was linking you-as if a community of feeling lay between. There is a heart-bond that absorbs all others;, there is a community that monopolizes your feeling. When the heart lay wide open, before it had grown upon and closed around particular objects, it could take strength and cheer from a hundred connections that now seem colder than ice. And now those particular objects, alas for you! are failing. AVhat anxiety pursues you ! How you struggle to fancy there is no danger; how she struggles to persuade yon there is no danger! How it grates now on your ear the toil and turmoil of the city! It was music when vou were alone: it was pleasant even, when from the din you were elaborating comforts for tho cherished objects when you had such sweet escape as evening drew on. Now it maddens you to see the world careless while you are steeped in care. They hustle you in the street; they smile nt you across the table; they bow carelessly over the way ; they do not know what canker is at your heart The undertaker comes with his bill for the dead boy's funeral. He knows your grief; he is respectful. You bless him in your soul. You wish the laughing street-goers were all undertakers. Your eye follows the physician as he leaves your house; is he wise? you ask yourself; is he prudent? is he tho liest? Did he never fail; is he never forgetful? And now the hand that touches yours is it no thinner, no whiter than yesterday? Sunny days come when bIw revives; color conies back; she breathes freer; she picks flowers; she meets you with a smile; hope lives again. But the next day of storm she is fallen. She cannot talk even; she presses your hand You hurry away from business before your time. What matter for clients; who is to reap the rewards? What matter for fame; whose eye will it brighten? What mat ter for riches; whose is the inheritance?
