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Read Ebook: Stray Pebbles from the Shores of Thought by Gould Elizabeth Porter
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Ebook has 84 lines and 7044 words, and 2 pages
THE LITTLE DOUBTER.
"Mamma, where is the sun to-day, While all this rain comes down?" Ah, little girl Of flaxen curl, Who has not asked before This question o'er and o'er?
"Behind the clouds so thick and black The sun is shining still," The mother quickly answered back, Her child with faith to fill.
The child looked up in strange surprise, In doubt almost a pain, Then turned again her wistful eyes To watch the pouring rain.
"I don't believe 'tis shining still," She muttered to herself. Ah, little girl Of flaxen curl, Why doubt e'en mother's word, Because of feelings stirred?
"I won't believe it till I see The sun behind that cloud," She still went on, defiantly, To say in accents loud.
Now, while she gazed as if to see The truth made known by sight, Behold the cloud did suddenly Become imbued with light.
"There, there, mamma, the sun, the sun!" The little doubter cried. And, full of joy at victory won, She danced with childish pride.
The mother watched with tearful eyes Her child's transparent joy, But dared not quench the glad surprise, Or victory's power destroy.
"Perhaps she'll need this proof," she sighed, "Of hidden things made plain, When in the depths of life she's tried, And all fond hopes are slain."
While thus she mused, as mothers will, The little daughter fair Rushed to her arms, all smiling still, And said, while nestling there,
OUR KITTY'S TRICK.
I know that all the boys and girls Would be so glad to see Our kitty do the little trick She often does for me.
When asked, "O kitty, where's the ball?" She to my shoulder leaps, And looks directly to the shelf, Where from a box it peeps.
She will not cease to look and beg, Until I find the place Where she can take between her teeth The ball with easy grace.
Then quickly to the floor she jumps; When, dropping first the ball, She runs behind the open door That leads into the hall.
She waits, with only head in sight, The ball to see me throw; Then after it she scampers well Some forty feet or so.
She never fails to bring it back; Then lifts with wondrous grace Her velvet paw to take the ball From out its hiding place.
This done, she nestles by my side, And purrs while I caress, Unconscious of the trick she's done, Since three months old or less.
She thus will lie in calm repose So long as I am still; But if I move to touch the ball, Then all her nerves will thrill,
Her eyes will shine, she'll quickly find Her place behind the door, And wait again to see the ball Roll on the long hall floor.
Ah, kitty dear, who told you how To join thought, act, and sight? Must not we think that in you dwells The germ of mental light,
The germ that makes you kin to us In kind though not degree, But which was quickened by His touch For our supremacy?
These verses, true in every detail, are only preserved in remembrance of a pet cat of our family for many years.
A MESSAGE.
A mountain hides within itself This message grand and true, Which at my bidding came to-day For me to give to you:
"Drink deep of Nature's sweetest life, While learning how to wait. Stand strong against the tempest's strife, Not questioning the fate. Then shalt thou live above the din Of petty things below, Absorbing depths of life within, The future to o'erflow."
Transcribers' Notes:
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; inconsistent hyphenation was retained.
Footnotes have been moved to the ends of the poems that reference them.
It sometimes was unclear whether or not a new stanza began on a new page.
Page 32: Unbalanced closing quotation mark retained after: God's thought.
Page 78: "In perfect harmony" was printed as "perect".
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