Sarah Orne Jewett's Stories
A little way beyond we met Isaiah Peet, the prosperous money-lender, who had cheated the old woman of her own. I fancied that he looked somewhat ashamed as he recognized us. To my surprise, he stopped his horse in most social fashion. “Old Aunt Peetpassed away,” he informed me briskly. " She had a shock, and went right off sudden yisterday forenoon. I’m about now tendin’ to the funeral ’rangements.” — From “Going to Shrewsbury.”
NEWS news came from the husbandsisterson,
The rogue who stole her farm; but I, for one,
Know that, if Mrs. Peet did pass away,
She rose not later than the following day,
Threw off her shroud, and bought a Shrewsbury ticket.
Dead? Mrs. Peet? No more than Cynthia Pickett
Or Mrs. Persis Flagg — both “Orthodox” —
Or the Free-Will-Baptist lady; she who knocks
At Mrs. Beckett’s door; or Mrs. Janes,
Poor meechin’ body! with her ague pains;
Or Mrs. Trimble, or Rebecca Wright,
Driving to Hampden in the fading light
That never fades: as golden now as when
They planned to bring the Bray girls home again.
The rogue who stole her farm; but I, for one,
Know that, if Mrs. Peet did pass away,
She rose not later than the following day,
Threw off her shroud, and bought a Shrewsbury ticket.
Dead? Mrs. Peet? No more than Cynthia Pickett
Or Mrs. Persis Flagg — both “Orthodox” —
Or the Free-Will-Baptist lady; she who knocks
At Mrs. Beckett’s door; or Mrs. Janes,
Poor meechin’ body! with her ague pains;
Or Mrs. Trimble, or Rebecca Wright,
Driving to Hampden in the fading light
That never fades: as golden now as when
They planned to bring the Bray girls home again.
Not one of them has “passed away” — not one.
Miss Tempy Dent, no less than these, lives on;
And her two watchers are as safe as she
From further harm. At Byfleet, knee to knee,
Sit Betsey Lane, Peggy, and Mrs. Dow,
Old women fifty years ago, and now
Not a day older. Peggy’s guarded cry:
“Ain’t that Mis’ Fales? There! Do let’s pray her by!”
And Mrs. Todd’s, “Well, mother, here I be!”
(Heard at Green Island — green immortally),
Ring as they did. They will be carried on
Over the hills and years when we have gone
To lie among the unremembered dead.
The hungry generations onward tread,
But the winter sun of every New Year’s Day Sees Mrs. Hand and Abby toil their way
Up to Aunt Cynthy Dallett’s mountain farm
To “visit” there forever, safe from harm.
Miss Tempy Dent, no less than these, lives on;
And her two watchers are as safe as she
From further harm. At Byfleet, knee to knee,
Sit Betsey Lane, Peggy, and Mrs. Dow,
Old women fifty years ago, and now
Not a day older. Peggy’s guarded cry:
“Ain’t that Mis’ Fales? There! Do let’s pray her by!”
And Mrs. Todd’s, “Well, mother, here I be!”
(Heard at Green Island — green immortally),
Ring as they did. They will be carried on
Over the hills and years when we have gone
To lie among the unremembered dead.
The hungry generations onward tread,
But the winter sun of every New Year’s Day Sees Mrs. Hand and Abby toil their way
Up to Aunt Cynthy Dallett’s mountain farm
To “visit” there forever, safe from harm.
All of them safe, the folk Miss Jewett knew;
Such power has truth, when truth is added to
Clear-sighted, faithful, understanding love.
Visit her towns for ample proof thereof.
In Hampden, Woodville, every wall and roof,
And on the farms beyond, is weatherproof.
At Topham Corners, Fairfield, Dunnet Landing,
Columns of wood smoke rise from chimneys standing
Just as they stood those many years ago.
A century from now it will be so;
Because their life is drawn, as she drew hers,
Through healthy roots, deep as the pointed fir’s.
Such power has truth, when truth is added to
Clear-sighted, faithful, understanding love.
Visit her towns for ample proof thereof.
In Hampden, Woodville, every wall and roof,
And on the farms beyond, is weatherproof.
At Topham Corners, Fairfield, Dunnet Landing,
Columns of wood smoke rise from chimneys standing
Just as they stood those many years ago.
A century from now it will be so;
Because their life is drawn, as she drew hers,
Through healthy roots, deep as the pointed fir’s.