Indian Summer by L.M. Montgomery

One hundred and twenty years ago, in October 1902, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Indian Summer" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

L.M. Montgomery's poem was featured on the first page of the journal. Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:



Here is the full text of the poem:

INDIAN SUMMER
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

In the sun-warm valleys all sweet and low,
Shy, tender murmurs come and go

Among pale grasses; and far away

O’er the calm, blue rim of an upland still
And the peak of a far, light-smitten hill,

Wind-music drifts adown the day.

Perfect peace of a year fulfilled
Cometh now when the world is stilled

And, forgetting its turmoil of springtime days

And its later fever, takes its rest
In a golden completeness no storms molest

While the benediction of autumn stays.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1902, October). Indian Summer. The Farm Journal. 26(10): 305. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1902-10_26_10/mode/2up

Created October 11, 2022.
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The colour of home on an autumn dusk was an exquisite thing.

"The colour of home on an autumn dusk was an exquisite thing."

-L.M. Montgomery
Mistress Pat

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Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created October 6, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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I hate this war...

"'I hate this war,' said Rilla bitterly, as she gazed out into the maple grove that was a chill glory of pink and gold in the winter sunset."

-L.M. Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside

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Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created March 11, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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If it had not rained on a certain May morning...

"If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely different."

-L.M. Montgomery
The Blue Castle

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Image credit:
Illustration of a woman with an umbrella adapted from a United States Rubber Company advertisement in The Ladies' Home Journal (January 1921). Public Domain.

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Created May 16, 2021. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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Spring Song by L. M. Montgomery

Spring Song
by L.M. Montgomery

O gypsy winds that pipe and sing
In budding boughs of beech,
I know I hear the laugh of spring
In all your silver speech.

O little mists that hide and curl
In hollows wild and green,
I know you will come in gauze and pearl
To wait upon your queen.

O little seed of mellow earth
Where rain and sunshine kiss,
I know the quivering joy of birth
Throbs in your chrysalis.

O Hope, you blossom on my way
Like violet from the clod,
And Love makes rosy all the grey
When spring comes back from God.

Poem published in Verse and Reverse by Members of the Toronto Women's Press Club (1922).

Image Credit:
Illustration of Violets by Louis-Aimé Martin in Nouveau langage des fleurs, ou, Parterre de flore : contenant le symbole et le langage des fleurs, leur histoire et leur origine mythologique, ainsi que les plus jolis vers composés a ce sujet (1832). From Biodiversity Heritage Library. Public Domain.

Created February 19, 2002. Re-posted online March 21, 2021. Last updated October 8, 2022.
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Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner

After spending many hours searching through microfiche in my university's library, I rediscovered an 100-year-old short story by L.M. Montgomery. The story is called "Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner," and you can read it here exclusively. "Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner" was originally published in 1907 in The Housewife, the year before Anne of Green Gables was published. To my knowledge this story has never been republished since.

The story is about four sisters: Laura, Kate, Margaret, and Agnes, who narrates the tale. Each girl has her own ambitions. Laura wants to be an artist, Kate plays the violin, Margaret wants to get a college education, and Agnes wants to be a writer. Aunt Susanna faintly approves of Margaret's desire for an education, but disapproves of the artistic, musical, and literary goals of her other three nieces. The sisters try to please Aunt Susanna, hoping their wealthy aunt will send Margaret to college.

The story begins when Aunt Susanna arrives at her nieces's home. She's full of criticism, but also needs a favor. She is in a bind, and must travel from town to visit a sick relative. She needs the girls to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for her and Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert upon their return home. Agnes has just told Aunt Susanna that she's a good cook, so she feels she must agree to prepare the meal. With trepidation, Agnes says she will cook dinner, and Kate volunteers to help her.

Despite the their best efforts, Agnes and Kate's Thanksgiving preparations turn out to be a disaster. Will they be able to save Thanksgiving and win Aunt Susanna's approval?

Read the original scanned story text below or download a PDF version here:





Updated to add: Long after I posted this story on my website, it was gathered into another collection online.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1907, November). Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner. The Housewife. pages 5 and 14.

Created October 2, 2007. Last updated November 24, 2022.
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Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories

Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories is a collection of 16 stories by L.M. Montgomery that were gathered and rediscovered by Rea Wilmshurst and published in 1995. Two stories are Christmas chapters from the Anne of Green Gables series, and the other 14 stories are Christmas and New Year stories written by L.M.Montgomery for magazines. The titles of the stories contained in this volume and their original publication dates are listed below:

Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves (from Anne of Green Gables, 1908)
Christmas at Red Butte (1909)
The End of the Young Family Feud (1907)
Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket (1903?)
The Osborne's Christmas (1903)
The Unforgotten One (1906)
Clorinda's Gifts (1906)
Katherine Brooke Comes to Green Gables (from Anne of Windy Poplars, 1934)
A Christmas Mistake (1899)
A Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road (1905)
The Falsoms' Christmas Dinner (1906)
A Christmas Inspiration (1901?)
The Josephs' Christmas (1902)
Uncle Richard's New Year Dinner (1910)
Ida's New Year Cake (1905)
Bertie's New Year (1905)

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Created December 27, 2002. Last updated April 26, 2024.
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