i just finished "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott.
i am in a state of shock (i'm always feel sort of lost when i finish a good book, particularly when i've read it for the first time). my life's certainly been enriched by it's many lessons, and the personal dedication in this copy makes it particularly precious to me. i have a feeling this will be one story that i'll keep for the rest of my life....
to share a little of my joy, here's one of Jo March's poems which particularly moved me. she's describing her sisters through chests full of objects of theirs:
IN THE GARRET
Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
All fashioned and filled, long ago,
By children now in their prime.
Four little keys hung side by side,
With faded ribbons, brave and gay,
When fastened there with childish pride,
Long ago, on a rainy day.
Four little names, one on each lid,
Carved out by a boyish hand,
And underneath, there lieth hid
Histories of the happy band
Once playing here, and pausing oft
To hear the sweet refrain,
Than came and went on the roof aloft,
In the falling summer rain.
" 'Meg' on the first lid, smooth and fair,
I look in with loving eyes,
For folded there, with well-known care,
A goodly gathering lies --
The record of a peaceful life,
Gifts to gentle child and girl,
A bridal gown, lines to a wife,
A tiny shoe, a baby curl.
No toys in this first chest remain,
For all are carried away,
In their old age, to join again,
In another small Meg's play.
Ah, happy mother! well I know
You hear like a sweet refrain,
Lullabies ever soft and low,
In the falling summer rain.
" 'Jo' on the next lid, scratched and worn,
And within a motley store
Of headless dolls, of school-books torn,
Birds and beasts that speak no more.
Spoils brought home from the fairy ground
Only trod by youthful feet,
Dreams of a future never found,
Memories of a past still sweet;
Half-writ poems, stories wild,
April letters, warm and cold,
Diaries of a willful child,
Hints of a woman early old;
A woman in a lonely home,
Hearing like a sad refrain
'Be worthy love, and love will come,'
In the falling summer rain.
"My 'Beth!' the dust is always swept
From the lid that bears your name,
As if by loving eyes that wept,
By careful hands that often came.
Death canonized for us one saint,
Ever less human than divine,
And still we lay, with tender plaint,
Relics in this household shrine.
The silver bell, so seldom rung,
The little cap which last she wore,
The fair, dead Catherine that hung
By angels borne above her door;
The songs she sang, without lament,
In her prison-house of pain,
Forever they sweetly blent
With the falling summer rain.
"Upon the last lid's polished field --
Legend now both fair and true --
A gallant knight bears on his shield,
'Amy,' in letters gold and blue.
Within the snoods that bound her hair,
Slippers that have danced their last,
Faded flowers laid by with care,
Fans whose airy toils are past --
Gay valentines all ardent flames,
Trifles that have borne their part
In girlish hopes, and fears, and shames.
The record of a maiden heart,
Now learning fairer, truer spells,
Hearing, like a blithe refrain,
The silver sound of bridal bells
In the falling summer rain.
"Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
Four women, taught by weal and woe,
To love and labor in their prime.
Four sisters, parted for an hour, --
None lost, one only gone before,
Made by love's immortal power,
Nearest and dearest evermore.
Oh, when these hidden stores of ours
Lie open to the Father's sight,
May they be rich in golden hours, --
Deeds that show fairer for the light.
Lives whose brave music long shall ring
Like a spirit-stirring strain,
Souls that shall gladly soar and sing
In the long sunshine, after rain.
