A Summer’s Afternoon

Afternoons on a Hill

Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
and not pick one.
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!

It seems this month, the allure of the character Anne Shirley created by L.M. Montgomery will not release my imagination. While reading the book, and looking for information and pictures, I came across some tidbits about L.M. Montgomery I found intriguing. What do we really know about this woman? What do we really know about the heart of any woman. The corner of the veil of L.M. Montgomery’s life was lifted by Irene Gammel in her book, ‘Looking for Anne of Green Gables – the Story of L.M. Montgomery and Her Literary Classic’.

Are there similarities in the life of L.M. Montgomery and the wonderful, endearing character she created? What were the circumstances of her childhood? What influenced her life and her writing?

According to Irene, L.M. Montgomery was a prolific writer throughout her life – she kept scores of journals. Intriguingly, she did burn a number of these and was noted to have regretted the act. She later carefully disclosed bits of information here and there about her creativity and her life.

I am just beginning this book and hope to share more with you. Have you read this book? Do you wonder about the life of L.M. Montgomery, the influences in her life and the formation of Anne Shirley.

“Half Holiday”

Olive Enoch

What shall I do this afternoon?
Shall I go down to the river soon?
Or to the field where the kingcups grow?
Or sail my kite if the breezes blow?
What shall I do that’s best of all?
…there are plenty of things to do,
The sunbeams dance and skies are blue.
P’r’aps I might hear the cuckoo sing,
Or find a new-grown fairy ring,
I saw a squirrel once over the hill,
P’r’aps he’d come out if I sat still.
What Shall I do? Where shall I go?
See how the yellow gorse is all a-glow,
All things are lovely I see,
I’ll follow this happy bumble-bee.

I am spending a quiet afternoon in the shade dreaming about a distant time, a distant place and lives lived over a century ago. I wonder what dreams of the past and the future captured the imagination of L.M. Montgomery, Edna St. Vincent Millay and the like.

I believe each woman revealed just what they wanted others to know about their lives. There is so much that can be caught up in the heart of a woman. I wonder, would L.M. Montgomery’s passion for writing and imaginative life have been different if her childhood years had been altered. It seems through some diversity grew a world of beauty, peace and moments of loveliness.

Originally posted on A Delightsome Life.