Chapter 35
'Oh, were I a heliotrope,
I would play poet,
And blow a breeze of fragrance
To you; and none should know it.
'Your form like the stately elm
When Phoebus gilds the morning ray;
Your cheeks like the ocean bed
That blooms a rose in May.
'Your words are wise and bright,
I bequeath them to you a legacy given;
And when your spirit takes its flight,
May it bloom aflower in heaven.
'My tongue in flattering language spoke,
And sweeter silence never broke
in busiest street or loneliest glen.
I take you with the flashes of my pen.
'Consider the lilies, how they grow;
They toil not, yet are fair,
Gems and flowers and Solomon's seal.
The geranium of the world is J. M. Bhaer.
'JAMES'
While the boys shouted over this effusion--which is a true one--
their mother read several liberal offers from budding magazines for
her to edit them gratis; one long letter from a young girl
inconsolable because her favourite hero died, and 'would dear Mrs
Bhaer rewrite the tale, and make it end good?' another from an irate
boy denied an autograph, who darkly foretold financial ruin and loss
of favour if she did not send him and all other fellows who asked
autographs, photographs, and auto-biographical sketches; a minister
wished to know her religion; and an undecided maiden asked which of
her two lovers she should marry. These samples will suffice to show a
few of the claims made on a busy woman's time, and make my readers
pardon Mrs Jo if she did not carefully reply to all.
'That job is done. Now I will dust a bit, and then go to my work.
I'm all behind-hand, and serials can't wait; so deny me to everybody,
Mary. I won't see Queen Victoria if she comes today.' And Mrs Bhaer
threw down her napkin as if defying all creation.
'I hope the day will go well with thee, my dearest,' answered her
husband, who had been busy with his own voluminous correspondence. 'I
will dine at college with Professor Plock, who is to visit us today.