venerdì 16 luglio 2021

Emily Dickinson's secret love: the mistery 'Master' of her heart.

 


“Titolo divino – è il mio!
 Quello di Moglie senza firma. 
Ecco  quello che dovevo 'dirti' – non lo dirai a nessun altro? 
L’Onore  è pegno di sé stesso... "(L250) 1




Tutti noi che conosciamo la poesia della magistrale poetessa di Amherst ci siamo sempre chiesti se non vi sia mai stato nessuno che avesse guidato la sua penna nello scrivere la sua vastissima produzione - che conta 1775 componimenti - soprattutto quella che data dal 1858 al 1864, più sentimentale e, sembrerebbe, più decisamente legata ad un oggetto d'amore.
I suoi versi, che si snodano come guidati dalla melodia di un canto, non sembrano essere solamente ispirati dalla Natura e dal senso del Divino per celebrare la Sacralità che essa racchiude ed esprime: suggeriscono palesemente l'esistenza di una figura che la ispirava e alla quale ella si rivolgeva con deferenza, gratitudine, devozione, passione. 

Già nel 
1932 Martha Dickinson Bianchi, figlia del fratello Austin e della moglie Sue (Susan) e perciò unica nipote della Dickinson (anche la sorella minore Lavinia come Emily non contrasse matrimonio), nel suo libro Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters, with Notes and Reminiscences confessava che la zia nutriva un amore tenuto segreto per ovvi motivi, da che il si trattava di un sentimento reciproco: l'oggetto della sua passione era un uomo importante, dalla carriera ben avviata e con una famiglia, insomma si trattava di un uomo che aveva un nome da difendere e che non poteva essere infangato.  
Ma chi era questo personaggio misterioso, definito spesso 'dark man', questa presenza che rendeva vitale il suo estro poetico, visto che la Dickinson conduceva una vita del tutto ritirata? Ben pochi erano infatti i frequentatori della sua casa, se non gli amici del fratello, almeno fino a che questi non si maritò ed andò a vivere agli 'Evergreen' - questo era il nome che aveva scelto per la costruzione che aveva fatto edificare all'altro capo dell'antica proprietà del padre, Edward Dickinson avvocato e stimato politico dalle idee conservatrici di Amherst.
Alcuni studiosi hanno fatto il nome, tra gli altri, anche assurdi, di un certo Dr.Holland, spesso presente nella dimora dei Dickinsons in quanto amico intimo di famiglia: era l'inizio degli anni '50 del XIX° secolo ed Emily, ricambiata, s'innamorò di lui. Chiese quindi al padre il permesso di sposarlo, ma il matrimonio le venne negato poiché il vecchio Edward era poco fiducioso che questo medico, divenuto scrittore, potesse mantenere la sua figlia minore al livello di vita che da sempre, grazie a lui e ai suoi proventi, conduceva. Josiah Holland (1819-1881) lavorava come 'semplice' editore per lo Springfield Republican, un giornale di successo, ma la professione che aveva scelto di esercitare non dava sufficienti garanzie al patriarca circa il futuro della sua Emily.
E la storia non ebbe alcun seguito. Holland si sposò con una certa Elizabeth che divenne, tra l'altro, una delle migliori amiche della Dickinson ( in una lettera che Emily le scrisse si legge:

“Spero che tu possa vivere finché non mi addormenterò nella mia tomba... Non vorrei sopravvivere al sorriso sul tuo viso innocente.”
– Emily Dickinson alla signora J. G. Holland, inizio 1877 (L487)."2

Per comprendere meglio l'identità di questo personaggio dobbiamo guardare al periodo in cui la poetessa, 'già mito in vita', come ebbe a scrivere Mabel Todd3, mutò le sue abitudini iniziando a vivere reclusa, non muovendosi oltre i limiti del proprio giardino e vestendo sempre in bianco, come una sposa consacrata. Ella trascorse così quindici anni della sua esistenza dando vita alla maggior parte dei suoi componimenti, quasi cinquanta dei quali sarebbero dedicati ad un certo Samuel Bowles che ella
chiama SAM.

Sarebbe questo, in realtà, il suo 'cavaliere dell'ombra' secondo quanto la stessa Emily ci confessa e non uso questa definizione a caso: ella lo scrive nelle sue poesie in modo criptato seguendo i canoni utilizzati dall'antica letteratura medievale e cortese anagrammando, rovesciando e sovrapponendo le parole, in un gioco accattivante che diventa quasi enigmistico.
Spesso sono proprio le lettere maiuscole che non casualmente inserisce nei propri testi a rivelare la presenza di questo nome sotto forma di acronimo e perciò a dirci che la poesia era dedicata a lui, quasi come accadrebbe leggendo componimenti che trattano dell'amore di Abelardo ed Eloisa, per intenderci, ambientati in epoca trobadorica e facenti parte della letteratura cortese.
Alcuni esempi ce li fornisce Bill Arnold che nel suo libro del 1998 Emily Dickinson's Secret Love - Mystery Master's Behind Poems avrebbe definitivamente tolto ogni dubbio sull'identità del 'padrone del cuore' della poetessa americana. A pagina 111 del suo testo l'autore ci suggerisce di prendere in considerazione il poema 62, il 94, entrambi scritti nel 1859, ed il 188, scritto l'anno successivo, prestando attenzione alle lettere maiuscole con cui iniziano i primi tre capoversi:

J62 (1859)

"Sown in dishonor"!
Ah! Indeed!
May this "dishonor" be?

"Seminato nel disonore"!
Ah! Davvero!
Può
questo essere "disonore"?


J94 (1859)

Angels, in the early morning
May be seen the Dews among,
Stooping - plucking - smiling - flying -


Angeli, di primo mattino
Si possono vedere fra le Rugiade,
Chinarsi - estirpare - sorridere - volare -


J188 (1860)

Make me a picture of the sun -

So I can hang it in my room.
And make believe I'm getting warm

Fammi un quadro del sole -

Così potrò appenderlo nella mia stanza
E far finta di scaldarmi


Nel primo caso le lettere maiuscole ci danno direttamente SAM, mentre nella poesia 94 e nella 188 ne troviamo un anagramma (rispettivamente AMS - MSA). Non vi sembra tutto semplicemente geniale? Ma di quella genialità vestita della delicatezza che solamente la nostra Emily poteva concepire.
Tutto questo per nascondere una storia d'amore che era nata con un uomo sposato che aveva una famiglia numerosa (in realtà la moglie, Mary, ebbe dieci gravidanze in 90 mesi, ma tre figli nacquero morti per cui ne  sopravvissero solo sette) ed una reputazione da proteggere.
Emily lo conobbe una sera agli 'Evergreen', da che Bowles era ottimo amico di Austin e Susan. E per entrambi fu amore a prima vista. Samuel Bowles (1826-1878) era proprietario e redattore capo dello Springfield Republican, il giornale a quei tempi più influente del New England. Fondato nel 1824 dal padre come un settimanale divenne, sotto la sua guida, uno dei più accreditati quotidiani d'informazione progressista contribuendo a fondare il partito repubblicano, sostenendo il movimento antischiavista e promuovendo la riforma sociale su diversi fronti. E proprio la testata giornalistica di cui era a capo lo condusse ad Amherst per vedere di persona innovativi macchinari che avrebbero dovuto agevolare il lavoro degli agricoltori.
Poteva questa persona essere un uomo comune? No di certo, il SAM di cui si era innamorata la Dickinson era un uomo del tutto speciale, per non dire brillante.
L'amicizia di Emily Dickinson e di Samuel Bowles iniziò già sotto il vessillo di un buon auspicio. Ella gli scrisse poco dopo averlo incontrato: 

"Anche se sono quasi le nove, i cieli esprimono gioia e riflettono una luce gialla, e vi è un vascello viola o qualcosa del genere, su cui un amico potrebbe navigare. Stasera sembra "Gerusalemme". Penso che Gerusalemme debba essere come il salotto di Sue, quando siamo lì a parlare e a ridere, quando tu e la signora Bowles siete con noi "(L189).4

Una cinquantina di lettere indirizzate a Bowles si sono conservate e sono giunte fino a noi - la maggior parte di esse fu scritta durante il 1861 e il 1862, un periodo particolarmente difficile per la poetessa americana.
Ed alcuni dei componimenti che ella gli dedicò vennero pubblicati in forma anonima proprio da Bowles sullo Springfield Republican. 
Nei suoi Annals of the Evergreens Susan Dickinson ricorda che le visite di Bowles agli Evergreens raramente si concludevano prima di mezzanotte:

"La sua gamma di argomenti era illimitata, ora trattava di politica locale, che magari suscitava la sua rabbia da uomo onesto, ora esprimeva qualche rara effusione di buoni sentimenti su di una poesia inedita scritta su di un foglio tirato fuori dalla sua tasca, ricevuta in anticipo dall'editore affascinato” (Annals, p. 3). La sua presenza agli Evergreens "sembrava arricchire e ampliare la vita per tutti noi, in quanto era un creatore di infinite prospettive" (Annals, p. 2)."

Nel 1862 egli partì per l'Europa ed iniziò così il periodo più sofferto, sia  emotivamente che poeticamente, per la Dickinson. Bowles tornò in America dove si spense ancora giovane nel 1878 e la Dickinson, che dal momento della sua partenza iniziò ad indossare le sue candide vesti, non le abbandonò più fino al momento della sua morte.
E' curioso notare come, anche se vestiva gli stessi indumenti immacolati, che per lei avevano un valore canonico - erano gli abiti che ella definiva 'della sposa vergine' - vi fosse una sostanziale differenza tra la Emily poetessa - dolce, ma capace di indagare l'essenza delle Cose - e la Emily donna - che si prendeva cura del suo giardino giocando con il proprio amato cane, apparentemente ingenua, immatura ed impacciata.




Un giorno dell'anno 1870, avvicinandosi al cancello della proprietà dei Dickinsons, Higginson5 ebbe a scrivere:

"Udii un passo come il picchiettare di un bambino alla porta d'ingresso e vidi quindi giungere una donna semplice, minuta, con sulla fronte due bande lisce di colore rossiccio ed un volto... privo di bei lineamenti - in un semplicissimo e squisitamente lindo abito di piqué bianco avvolta in uno scialle di lana pettinata tessuto a rete blu. Mi venne accanto con due gigli appena schiusi che mi mise in modo infantile nella mano dicendomi con una dolce, terrorizzata voce puerile priva di fiato: 'Questa è la mia presentazione' - ed aggiunse, sempre senza respirare 'Mi perdoni se sono terrorizzata; non vedo mai estranei e difficilmente trovo cosa dire...' "6



A presto miei carissimi ed affezionati lettori ed amici, 
vi abbraccio affettuosamente augurandovi ogni bene 










NOTE E CITAZIONI AL TESTO:

1 - The letters of Emily Dickinson, (tradotte da Giuseppe Ierolli), pubblicate da
Thomas H. Johnson, Associated Editor: Theodora Ward, Cambridge MA, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1958


3 - Bill Arnold, Emily Dickinson's Secret Love, Florida, PPB Press, 1998, p.32


5 - Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911) co-editore delle prime due raccolte di poesie di Emily Dickinson, era un uomo dai talenti e risultati sorprendentemente vari. Divenne suo amico e corrispondente.

6 - Bill Arnold, Emily Dickinson's Secret Love, op.cit.,p.38 




 ∗⊱♡❀♡⊰∗




- picture 1 - Cynthia Nixon in "A Quiet Passion", a 2016 film about the life of the American poetess written and directed by Terence Davies.


“Title divine – is mine!

The Wife without a Sign

Here's - what I had to "tell you" - You will tell no other? 

Honor - is it's own pawn- (L250) 1




All of us who know the poetry of the masterful poetess of Amherst have always wondered if there has ever been anyone who had 'driven' her pen in writing her vast production - which counts 1775 compositions - especially the one that dates from 1858 to 1864, more sentimental and, it would seem, more definitely linked to an object of love.
Her verses, which unfold as if guided by the melody of a song, do not seem to be inspired only by Nature and the sense of the Divine to celebrate the Sacredness that it encloses and expresses: they clearly suggest the existence of a figure inspiring her and which she addressed with deference, gratitude, devotion, passion.


- picture 2 on the left - Martha Dickinson Bianchi


Already in 1932 Martha Dickinson Bianchi, daughter of his brother Austin and her sister-in-law Sue (Susan) and therefore the only niece of hers (her younger sister Lavinia like Emily didn't marry), in her book Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters, with Notes and Reminiscences confessed that her aunt had a love kept secret for obvious reasons: the object of her passion, who loved her in turn, was an important man, with a well-established career and with a family, in short, it was a matter of a man who had a name to defend and who couldn't be besmirched.
But who was this mysterious person, often called a 'dark man', this presence that made her poetic flair vital, given that Dickinson led a completely secluded life? In fact, they were very few the frequenters of her house, if not his brother's friends, at least until he got married and went to live at the 'Evergreen'.
This was the name his wife Susan had chosen for the building he had built at the other head of the former estate of his father, Edward Dickinson, a lawyer and respected politician with conservative ideas from Amherst.
Some scholars have mentioned, among others, some names even absurd, such as that of a certain Dr. Holland, often present in the Dickinsons' home as a close friend of the family: it was the beginning of the 50's of the XIXth century and Emily, reciprocated, fell in love with him. She then asked her father for permission to marry him, but the marriage was denied because the old Edward wasn't very confident that this doctor, who had become a writer, could keep his youngest daughter at the level of life that she had always led, thanks to him and his income. Josiah Holland (1819-1881) worked as a 'simple' editor for The Springfield Republican, a successful newspaper, but the profession he had chosen did not give the patriarch sufficient guarantees about the future of his Emily.
And the story had no sequel. Holland married a certain Elizabeth who became, among other things, one of Emily's best friends. (In a letter to her, Emily will write:

“I hope you may live till I am asleep in my personal Grave . . . I would not like to outlive the smile on your guileless Face.” 
– Emily Dickinson to Mrs. J. G. Holland, early 1877 -L487).2

To better understand the identity of this character we must look at the period in which the poetess, 'already a myth in life', as Mabel Todd3 wrote, changed her habits starting to live in seclusion, not moving beyond the limits of her garden and always dressing in white, like a consecrated bride. She spent fifteen years of her existence giving life to most of her compositions, almost fifty of which would be dedicated to a certain Samuel Bowles that she calls SAM.


- picture 3 on the right - Samuel Bowles


Actually, this would be her 'shadow knight' according to what Emily herself confesses to us and I do not use this definition by chance: she writes it in her poems in an encrypted way following the canons used by ancient medieval literature and courteous anagram , overturning and overlapping the words, in a captivating game that becomes almost enigmistic.
Often they're precisely the capital letters that she, not casually, inserts in her texts to reveal the presence of this name in the form of an acronym and therefore to tell us that the poem was dedicated to him, almost as would happen reading poems dealing with the love of Abelard and Eloisa, so to speak, set in the troubadour era and part of the courtly literature.
Some examples are provided by Bill Arnold who in his book from 1998 Emily Dickinson's Secret Love - Mystery Master's Behind Poems would have definitively removed any doubt about the identity of the American poet's 'Master of the heart'. On page 111 of his book, the author suggests us to consider poem 62, 94, both written in 1859, and 188, written the following year, paying attention to the capital letters with which the first three paragraphs begin:

J62 (1859)

"Sown in dishonor"!
Ah! Indeed!
May this "dishonor" be?


J94 (1859)

Angels, in the early morning
May be seen the Dews among,
Stooping - plucking - smiling - flying -


J188 (1860)

Make me a picture of the sun -

So I can hang it in my room.
And make believe I'm getting warm 



In the first case the capital letters give us SAM directly, while in poem 94 and 188 we find an anagram of it (respectively AMS - MSA). Doesn't it all seem simply brilliant? But of that talent 'dressed' with the delicacy that only our Emily could conceive.
All this to hide a love story that was born with a married man who had a large family (in reality his wife, Mary, had ten pregnancies in 90 months, but three children were born died so only seven survived) and one reputation to protect.
Emily met him one night at the Evergreen, since Bowles was close friend with Austin and Susan. And for both of them it was love at first sight. Samuel Bowles (1826-1878) was the owner and editor-in-chief of The Springfield Republican, the most influential newspaper in New England at the time. Founded in 1824 by his father as a weekly, it became, under his leadership, one of the most accredited progressive information newspapers, helping to found the republican party, supporting the anti-slavery movement and promoting social reform on several fronts. And the newspaper he headed led him to Amherst to see for himself innovative machinery that should have facilitated the work of farmers.
Could this person be an ordinary man? Certainly no, the SAM that Emily fell in love with was a very special man, indeed extraordinary.
The friendship of Emily Dickinson and Samuel Bowles began under the banner of a good omen. She wrote to him shortly after having met him:

Though it is almost nine o'clock, the skies are gay and yellow, and there's a purple craft or so, in which a friend could sail. Tonight looks like "Jerusalem." I think Jerusalem must be like Sue's Drawing Room, when we are talking and laughing there, and you and Mrs Bowles are by.(L189)4

About fifty letters addressed to Bowles have survived and have come down to us - most of them were written during 1861 and 1862, a particularly difficult period for the American poet.
And some of the poems she dedicated to him were published anonymously by Bowles himself in The Springfield Republican.
In her Annals of the Evergreens Susan Dickinson recalls that  Susan recalled that Bowles’s visits to The Evergreens rarely ended until after midnight: 

His range of topics was unlimited, now some plot of local politics, rousing his honest rage, now some rare effusion of fine sentiment over an unpublished poem which he would draw from his pocket, having received it in advance from the fascinated editor” (Annals, p. 3). His presence in The Evergreens “seemed to enrich and widen all life for us, a creator of endless perspectives” (Annals, p. 2).

In 1862 he left for Europe and thus began the most painful period, both emotionally and poetically, for Emily. Bowles returned to America where he died still young in 1878 and Dickinson, who from the moment of his departure began to wear her white robes, never abandoned them until the moment of her death.
It is curious to note how, even if she wore the same immaculate garments, which for her had a canonical value - they were the clothes 'of the virgin bride' - there was a substantial difference between the poet Emily - sweet, but able to investigate the essence of Things - and the woman Emily - who took care of her garden playing with her beloved dog, apparently naive, immature and awkward.


- picture 4 - Portrait of Emily Dickinson dating back to the late 60's of the XIXth c.


One day in the year 1870, approaching the gate of the Dickinsons' estate, Higginson5 wrote:


"A step like a pattering child's in entry and in glided a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair and a face... with no good feature - in a very plain and exquisitely clean white piqué and a blue net worsted shawl. She came to me with two day lilies, which she put in a sort of childlike way into my hand and said, childlike voice - and addeda under her breath, 'Forgive me, I am frightened; I never see strangers and hardly know what to say...' ".6



See you soon, my beloved and affectionate readers and friends, 
I hug you warmly wishing you all my best 







NOTES AND QUOTATIONS:


1 - The letters of Emily Dickinson, (transl.in it. by Giuseppe Ierolli), edited by
Thomas H. Johnson, Associated Editor: Theodora Ward, Cambridge MA, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1958


3 - Bill Arnold, Emily Dickinson's Secret Love, Florida, PPB Press, 1998, p.32


5 - Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911) co-publisher of Emily Dickinson's first two collections of poetry, he was a man of surprisingly varied talents and accomplishments. He became her friend and correspondent.

6 - Bill Arnold, Emily Dickinson's Secret Love, op.cit.,p.38 





LINKING WITH:















24 commenti:

  1. I cannot imagine ten pregnancies in 90 months. This is such a sad story. As ever, Dany, you have enlightened us all on another fascinating historical moment in time; thank you. I was not aware of her secret love.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Kim
      Sweetest friend of mine, I myself wasn't aware of it before than reading the book from Bill Arnold who reveals the name of this man, name which has been hidden amongst the verses of the famous poetess we all love until nowadays (the book was printed in 1998 but I read it just a few months ago!).
      With utmost gratitude
      I'm sending blessings across the many miles ♡❤♡

      Elimina
  2. The history is so fascinating...all her words and worshipping from afar. Sad, but then sometimes it is the act of 'worshipping' that becomes more important than the recipient. It was a different time...so it is hard to tell. Lovingly researched and written, thank you, Sandi

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Sandi Magle
      You always appreciate every topics ~ My little old world ~ deal with and it truly makes my days and put a sweet smile on my face, I have no words which to thank you with, Dearest friend!
      ✿• May your Sunday be filled with gladness •✿

      Elimina
  3. As beautifully as she wrote, it does not surprise me that she felt things very deeply, although she was not good at expressing them in person.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. messymimi
      Probably her feelings were so deep that she wasn't able to express them in words, but just to write them.
      For every people who met and knew her, she was just a lovely and sweet Lady as no one else.
      Sending love and hugs to you,
      my wonderful Friend ಌ❀ಌ

      Elimina
  4. Grazie per la condivisione, cara Dany. Anche a te auguro ogni bene!

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. italiafinlandia
      grazie a te per la visita!
      ღ ~ E che questa settimana appena cominciata porti solo cose liete ~ ღ

      Elimina
  5. ...this is a subject that I know very little about.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Tom
      so try and read a few poems from her and you'll begin to believe that such inspired verses had to be driven by a great love which was unconfessed, of course, until now.
      Thank you for your words, my friend,
      have a lovely day today ❥

      Elimina
  6. I was completely unaware that the driving force behind her writings was a secret love. Thank you for sharing this untold story in such a beautiful fashion, you always draw us into the world of those who lived in times before us. Many blessings to you dear friend!

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Marilyn
      Dear, your words of satisfaction due to the reading of this last post of mine fill my heart with joy and enthusiasm, you really make my day, blessed be!
      May your summer day be as Beautiful as you,
      sweet friend of mine ༺❀༻

      Elimina
  7. It always amazes me how these authors and artist all had secrets and different lives, but I suppose that is what made them who they were, I just hope they were happy.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Conniecrafter
      actually It isn’t given to us to know if they were happy or not… maybe they would be happier if it was allowed them to live together, but they remained good friends and their relation was filled with reciprocal esteem and admiration.
      In my opinion, according to my personal experience, to be a mere friend of a person you love is almost a pain, isn't it ?!?
      With utmost gratitude for being always so faithful to ~ My little old world ~ and for enriching it with your comments,
      *♥ I'm sending much love to you ♥*

      Elimina
  8. I must confess that I have never read Emily Dickinson, and your post is perhaps the stimulus I need to remedy this omission!

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Dave M. Gascoigne
      Dear, you've such a delicate and sensible heart - your Love for Nature and for everything surpring It preserves testifies it - that you'd understand immediately what she means with her words, which must be understood thanks to your inner world, your personal sentiments and intimate experiences which has left a sign in your soul.
      That's why some people think her poems to be complicated to understand: you needn't your mind to understand it, you need
      your heart!
      Take care, my friend,
      and enjoy with Love the remainder of this day ✽~Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ~✽

      Elimina
  9. Ah, Emily Dickinson. Definitely among my favourites, but I have never seen this side of her. Very well written as always. I'm so glad I finally found the time to visit your sight. I was ill for a long time and now I'm better but just coming to end of moving into the city.
    Sending you much Love, and I promise to visit more often.
    Lovingly,
    Andrea

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Andrea Ostapovitch
      Dearest One! I was persuaded you left our Blogging world and to have lost you as many Blog friends I wasn’t able to find when I came back this Spring and to read your words today is such a big joy to me!
      On the other hand, knowing that you was ill for a long time is such a pain, I’m sincerely sorry and concerned for your health if it brought you to take the decision to move to the city, you so loved your wonderful corner of paradise!
      Look after yourself, Dearie, and come and visit ~ My little old world ~ when you can, you know, you’re so special to me.
      ⊰ღ Blessings ღ⊱

      Elimina
  10. Wow, what a great story. I never knew this about her. Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm. xo Kathleen

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Kathleen
      I heartily thank you for your visit, Dearie, it's always such a delight to welcome you here!
      May your day be filled with Joy and Wonder ಌ•❤•ಌ

      Elimina
  11. I can't imagine writing with a quill (a fountain pen?) by lamplight. What dedication!

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Magical Mystical Teacher
      for sure it was necessary a great deal of dedication and motivation but maybe for them it was normal reading or writing by the the light of an oil lamp. Thus is understandable that even young people suffered of poor sight. And I can only suppose what a patience was required by writing with a fountain pen!
      Thank you for visiting, Dear friend,
      ⊰♥⊱ be blessed ⊰♥⊱

      Elimina
  12. I didn't know about this forbidden love affair. Oh and all those pregnancies in such a short period of time. Goodness.

    Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week. ♥

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Sandee
      thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time for stopping by and for commenting!
      ♥♡♥ May your day be filled with smiles ♥♡♥

      Elimina

I THANK YOU WHOLEHEARTEDLY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS AND WORDS, SO PRECIOUS TO ME.