This poem was included in the original 1915 edition.
FROM Bindle's opera house in the village To Broadway is a great step. But I tried to take it, my ambition fired When sixteen years of age, Seeing "East Lynne," played here in the village By Ralph Barrett, the coming Romantic actor, who enthralled my soul. True, I trailed back home, a broken failure, When Ralph disappeared in New York, Leaving me alone in the city-- But life broke him also. In all this place of silence There are no kindred spirits. How I wish Duse could stand amid the pathos Of these quiet fields And read these words.
, 8 months ago
Eleonora Duse was one of the great actresses of her day. Flossie is pining for a "kindred spirit" - or more truthfully one of her heroes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleonora_Duse
, 8 months ago
Flossie and Daisy Fraser would seem to be kindred spirits.
, 2 months ago
I'm kind of confused about the inference I've seen that Ralph Barrett is based on Lawrence Barrett. This poem makes Ralph seem to be a bounder, but L. Barrett was, by all accounts, not one to lure a girl to NYC and then drop her. Plus, life didn't break Lawrence Barrett - he worked himself to death, coupled with poor health. It makes it sound like he was swamped with tragedy when that wasn't the case.
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elyse , 8 months ago
i honestly dont understand who duse is, and what the objective of this piece is. I thought it was to justify why she is the way she is or something like that...i assumed she was some kindof "fallen" broadway star and she was living in a sham..???