The Poem
Orphan in my first years, I early learnt
To make my heart suffice itself, and seek
Support and sympathy in its own depths.
Well, read my cheek, and watch my eye, —
Too strictly school’d are they
One secret of my soul to show,
One hidden thought betray.
I never knew the time my heart
Look’d freely from my brow;
It once was check’d by timidness,
‘Tis taught by caution now.
I live among the cold, the false,
And I must seem like them;
And such I am, for I am false
As those I most condemn.
I teach my lip its sweetest smile,
My tongue its softest tone;
I borrow others’ likeness, till
Almost I lose my own.
…
My first, my last, my only wish,
Say will my charmed chords
Wake to the morning light of fame,
And breathe again my words?
Will the young maiden, when her tears
Alone in moonlight shine —
Tears for the absent and the loved —
Murmur some song of mine?
Will the pale youth by his dim lamp,
Himself a dying flame,
From many an antique scroll beside,
Choose that which bears my name?
Let music make less terrible
The silence of the dead;
I care not, so my spirit last
Long after life has fled.
A Brief Reflection
The above is from a poem called “Lines of Life” by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (this isn’t all of it–I highly suggest you follow the link to read the whole thing). Though popular in her time, Landon is not well known now, and her life was a rather tragic one. After living alone most of her life, she broke off one engagement in 1834, married another man in June of 1838, and died that October of an overdose. Like most of her poems, this one speaks to her desire for love and belonging, something that she always struggled to find.
Today, I offer just a little reflection of things that I found inspiring from this poem. If you look closely at the message, it may ring true for you as it does for me. First of all, consider the first stanza: “Orphan in my first years, I early learnt/To make my heart suffice itself, and seek/Support and sympathy in its own depths.” I was certainly not an orphan, but my heart resonates with the words all the same, to think of the disappointment that results in asking another to support your heart. How often do people fail to do this as we could wish? We quickly go to ourselves for support, holding on to our pride, attempting to become great in our own eyes since we find little value in others’.
Next, consider the lines: “I borrow others’ likeness, till/Almost I lose my own.” Is this not what so many of us do? We walk through life thinking that what and who we are is not sufficient and will be ridiculed, and so we go on trying our best to become just what everyone asks us to be. But that is far from the full and beautiful life we were made to live, is it not?
Finally, consider the final stanza, that which sums up the poem for Ms. Landon and for us as readers: “Let music make less terrible/The silence of the dead;/I care not, so my spirit last/Long after life has fled.” What is it that we want more than for our words and our spirits to make some difference when we are dead and gone?
I say all this not to indicate that I agree with Landon’s conclusion as much as that I understand it. I suppose many of us can understand how it feels to live life wishing for fame and glory, to be important for who we are and not just who we pretend to be for the sake of others. Yet so few of us achieve it. Should we? Is that the essence of a beautiful life?
I am reminded, as I often am, of a verse from the Bible. “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:24-25a). Whether we achieve fame or not, it isn’t going to last forever. Besides, we shall be dead. Why will we care then? The one thing worth living for is to spread the eternal word of God.
A Conclusion
So then, let us remember this lesson from Letitia Elizabeth Landon. We won’t endure forever, but God’s Word will. If we use our words to spread His, what we do will matter. And besides that, let’s forget about trying to live in a way that makes others think well of us. Losing who we are for approval that will end with our death is of little worth. You were made who you are for a reason, and hiding it won’t end in anything other than you being forgotten. So go ahead–be yourself. Spread God’s Word. And if you can do those two things, your life will be fuller and richer, a more beautiful life, no matter who remembers you after you die.
About the author, sariahvb:
I’m always learning, always loving, always dreaming. Writing is the one thing I’ve wanted to do since I was eight. I’ve spent my life reading books in every genre, writing to build my family’s libraries, and studying wordsmithing in my spare time.
When I work with clients, I tell the stories they need their customers to hear. I’ll do my research, craft the message, revise the message, and complete the message. I will tell your story with as much passion as I tell mine, because every voice deserves to be heard.
Writing is my gift, and I want to give it to the people who need it most. I’ve earned my degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication, but it’s not about the title, it’s about the people I work with. You tell me what you want the world to know and I will do everything I can to help them hear it in a way that makes sense to them.
Reach out any time–if I’m not writing, I’m probably enjoying wine and chocolate behind a good book. I’m excited to meet you.