October 30, 2022

Down in the Pastures by L.M. Montgomery

The Farm Journal masthead, July 1906

In July 1906, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Down in the Pastures" 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."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:

Down in the Pastures by L.M. Montgomery, Poem in The Farm Journal, July 1906


Here is the full text of the poem:

DOWN IN THE PASTURES
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

Down in the pastures, remote and cool,
In the glow of a golden afternoon,
Where the calm-eyed cows by the birchen pool
Browse, and meandering breezes croon
Among the clover and daisies there,
In the wine-like sweetness of summer air,
I rambled to-day—no companionships
Of human creatures, no voice save the low
Leaf murmurs that wandered to and fro,
And the brook’s mysterious sibylline lips.

A bluebird, perched on a picket gray,
Sang a song that was blithe and free;
It looked askance as I passed that way,
Yet the shy thing seemed not afraid of me.
And each wild rose that opened there
Its virgin lips to the calm blue air
Among the bracken a welcome gave,
And I felt that everything, flower and bird,
By some subtle instinct of joy was stirred,
Such as mortals know not and vainly crave.

O, it was sweet on this summer day
To learn my kinship to those wild things,
To feel as unfettered and glad as they
And as if my spirit at least had wings,
To lay my heart against Nature’s own
Till the haunting music of each deep tone
Passed into my soul with a rapt release
From the pain and turmoil of outer life,
To forget the meaning of selfish strife
And learn the depth of primeval peace.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1906, July). Down in the Pastures. The Farm Journal. 30(7): 234. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1906-07_30_7/page/234/mode/2up

Created October 30, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

October 26, 2022

There was an indefinable change over everything that meant autumn.

A quote on autumn by L.M. Montgomery from her novel Jane of Lantern Hill.

"There was an indefinable change over everything that meant autumn."
-L.M. Montgomery
Jane of Lantern Hill

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery


Created October 26, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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October 23, 2022

Drought by L.M. Montgomery

The Farm Journal masthead, August 1908

In August 1908, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Drought" 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."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:

Drought by L.M. Montgomery, Poem in The Farm Journal, August 1908


Here is the full text of the poem:

DROUGHT
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

So long it is since kindly rain
Fell on the thirsty meadow lands,
The birds forget their old refrain,
The trees uplift their pleading hands
To hard, bright skies that do not heed,
But arch above the valley dim
And touch the far hills’ burning rim
And care not for our mighty need.

Athwart the dusty highways’ glare
The wan white daisies drooping lean,
The roses faint in their despair
On pasture slopes no longer green.
The plaintive brooks have ceased to pray
Unfed by springs whose lips are dry,
And the dull evening in the sky
Shuts out the brazen edge of day.

Great Father, listen to our prayer,
And send on us Thy gracious rain
To hush the moan of our despair
And drown the memory of our pain.
Then all the hills to Thee will raise
A psalm of utter thankfulness,
Thy name each thirsty blossom bless,
And every meadow hymn Thy praise.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1908, August). Drought. The Farm Journal. 32(8): 298. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1908-08_32_8/page/n1/mode/2up

Created October 23, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

October 22, 2022

The Light in Mother's Eyes by L.M. Montgomery

The Farm Journal masthead, January 1909

In January 1909, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "The Light in Mother's Eyes" about her mother Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery 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."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:

The Light in Mother's Eyes by L.M. Montgomery, Poem in The Farm Journal, January 1909

Here is the full text of the poem:

THE LIGHT IN MOTHER’S EYES
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

Dear beacon of my childhood’s day,
The lodestar of my youth,
A mingled glow of tenderest love
And firm, unswerving truth,
I’ve wandered far o'er east and west,
’Neath many stranger skies,
But ne’er I’ve seen a fairer light
Than that in mother’s eyes.

In childhood when I crept to lay
My tired head on her knee,
How gently shone the mother-love
In those dear eyes on me;
And when in youth my eager feet
Roamed from her side afar,
Where’er I went that light divine
Was aye my guiding star.

In hours when all life’s sweetest buds
Burst into dewy bloom,
In hours when cherished hopes lay dead
In sorrow and in gloom;
In evening’s hush, or morning’s glow,
Or in the solemn night,
Those mother eyes still shed on me
Their calm, unchanging light.

Long since the patient hands I loved
Were folded in the clay,
And long have seemed the lonely years
Since mother went away;
But still I know she waits for me
In fields of Paradise,
And I shall reach them yet, led by
The light in mother’s eyes.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1909, January). The Light in Mother's Eyes. The Farm Journal. 33(1): 35. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1909-01_33_1/page/34/mode/2up

Created October 22, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

October 21, 2022

Bob's Stories by L.M. Montgomery

The Farm Journal masthead, October 1910

In October 1910, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Bob's Stories" 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."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:

Bob's Stories by L.M. Montgomery, Poem in The Farm Journal, October 1910

Here is the full text of the poem:

BOB’S STORIES
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

The sky was a windy tent when he
His stories told,
Shot all through with mellow hues:
And vagrant winds went lowing free
Over fields all wet with nightly dews,
And the West was gold.

Tired from work and play were we
When the day was done;
Hanging around the old back door
To hear the wonderful yarns that he
On those dusky, breezy eves of yore
Unwearied spun.

Bob was never stuck, not he,
For a story to tell.
He made them all out of his own small head,
Fairies and dragons and witches; we
Were almost too scared to go to bed
When the darkness fell.

Enchanted castles and knights galore
And pirates bold,
Marvelous ventures on land and sea,—
The wilder it all might be the more
We liked it and listened breathlessly,
Till the tale was told.

Books were nothing to him, we thought,
Not half such fun
As to sit around with wide-opened eyes,
Our little every-day world forgot,
And listen with awed, delicious surprise
To the yarns he spun.

Bob since then to other ears
Has stories told;
Over the world has flown his fame.
Men and women with laughter and tears
Read the books that bear his name
In letters of gold.

But I’m ready to wager that never he
Sweeter praise has won
Than we gave unstintedly years ago,
When, a barefooted, dusty fraternity,
We listened, wide-eyed, in the sunset glow
To the yarns he spun


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1910, October). Bob's Stories. The Farm Journal. 34(10): 466. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1910-10_34_10/page/466/mode/2up

Created October 13, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

October 20, 2022

Night in the Country by L.M. Montgomery

The Farm Journal masthead, October 1904

In October 1904, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Night in the Country" 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."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:

Night in the Country by L.M. Montgomery, Poem in The Farm Journal, October 1904

Here is the full text of the poem:

NIGHT IN THE COUNTRY

In the city the night is gay,
Brighter, more feverish than the day;
Throngs unceasing pass through the glare,
Allured by pleasure or urged by care.

The noisy stir, the busy hum
Of unresting life is seldom dumb,
The benediction of midnight deep
Never may fall on the city’s sleep.

In the country the dusk, sweet night
Has the solemn calm of the infinite:
The dim, wide fields in silence lie
Under the arch of ebon sky.

The wind steals out of the quiet woods
To blow over dew-chrismed solitudes;
The hush of the hour is still and deep
In the pastures where the cattle sleep.

The kindly stars shine above the hills,
With balm and healing the night-time fills.
Here in the country one may rest
Like a child on its mother’s breast.

L. M. MONTGOMERY.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1904, October). Night in the Country. The Farm Journal. 28(10): 332. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1904-10_28_10/page/332/mode/2up

Created October 20, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com

October 19, 2022

Some things come by lightning flashes.

A quote from The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery: Some things dawn on you slowly. Some things come by lightning flashes.

"Some things dawn on you slowly. Some things come by lightning flashes."
-L.M. Montgomery
The Blue Castle


Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:

Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

Purchase and read the The Blue Castle:


The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery


Created October 19, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

October 18, 2022

In Wheaten Meadows by L.M. Montgomery

The Farm Journal masthead, July 1908

In July 1908, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "In Wheaten Meadows" 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."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:

In Wheaten Meadows by L.M. Montgomery, Poem in The Farm Journal, July 1908


Here is the full text of the poem:

IN WHEATEN MEADOWS
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

There are winds that riot o’er meadows still,
Over slopes of harvest gold,
From the fir-set rim of an orient hill,
With a vibrant melody athrill,
And a music all untold.

There are shadows and ripples, uncharted
and fleet,
Where the fretted tassels sway;
The call of the bluebird is lyric-sweet,
And the crimson poppies among the wheat
Look up to the mellow day.

Widely the ministrant meadows lie,
Lavish of rapture and rest;
White are the clouds in the slumberous sky,
And elfin the voices that wander by
The grass-hid field-lark’s nest.

Perhaps o’er the shadowy hills afar,
Unresting souls may throng,
And there may tumult and strife and jar
And ignoble discord and struggle mar
Earth’s full-voiced, matchless song.

But here, where the silken poppies burn,
And the air is pure and sweet,
We may hark to the rhythm for which we yearn,
And many an ancient lesson learn
In the meadows among the wheat.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1908, July). In Wheaten Meadows. The Farm Journal. 32(7): 274. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1908-07_32_7/page/n1/mode/2up

Created October 18, 2022.
© worldofanneshirley.com