“It’s not what the world holds for you. It’s what you bring to it.”
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
As a child, Lucy Maud Montgomery spent much of her time in the care of her grandparents, Lucy and Alexander Macneill, who ran the Cavendish, PEI post office. After her mother died, her father spent most of his time travelling until he settled with a new wife in Saskatchewan when Maud was thirteen. Two years later, Maud moved to Saskatchewan to be with her father, which was when she wrote her first poem, On Cape LeForce, a story about an eighteenth century buccaneer. Imagine her excitement when she received news that The Daily Patriot, a PEI local newspaper, would publish her work. (I have yet to locate that poem, however will continue my search.)
After spending a year on the Canadian Prairies, homesickness persuaded her to return to her beloved Prince Edward Island where her destiny awaited.
Gratitude
By Lucy Maud Montgomery
I thank thee, friend, for the beautiful thought
That in words well chosen thou gavest to me,
Deep in the life of my soul it has wrought
With its own rare essence to ever imbue me,
To gleam like a star over devious ways,
To bloom like a flower on the drearest days
Better such gift from thee to me
Than gold of the hills or pearls of the sea.
For the luster of jewels and gold may depart,
And they have in them no life of the giver,
But this gracious gift from thy heart to my heart
Shall witness to me of thy love forever;
Yea, it shall always abide with me
As a part of my immortality;
For a beautiful thought is a thing divine,
So I thank thee, oh, friend, for this gift of thine.
On The Road Book Club 
Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
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And thanks for stopping by – much appreciated!!!
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Just brilliant…
Only the wild grey gulls that love the
cloud and the clamor
Will dare to tempt the ways of the
ravining sea to-night.
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I love her thoughts! Here is one that I especially like:
“I love to smell flowers in the dark,” she said. “You get hold of their soul then.”
A few simple words and yet, there is so much more…
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What treasurers are the Anne of Green Gables books! She wrote of that which she had experienced. She loved the East coast and the sea, No wonder she could write with such authority.
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So true. As I read more about her background I realize that she weaved the threads of her life into her Anne series.
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That photo is so beautiful!
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Thank you for your kind comments – you always give a lift to my day…
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Yes, I’ve always sensed that much of Anne of Green Gables came from a wounded heart.
And what courage … those words ‘what you bring to the world’ obliterate any whiff of self-pity…
What a dent in all our consciousnesses that book has made… Anne’s combination of spunk and goodwill and courage, caring and coping was so inspirational to all us girls…
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You are always so insightful. Indeed, it was the lack of self-pity that resonates throughout her books. She did not have an easy life to begin with and she experienced many dark days as an adult. Life is complex and uncertain, but self-pity in not the answer. Thank you, Valerie!
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Lovely. The photo is spectacular as well!
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It was an amazing day – sunshine and I was eating the best gingerbread cake with ice-cream. There are unforgettable moments in life and it usually involves food….
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beautiful with words like gleam and bloom, gold and pearls.
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She loved being near the sea, which always generates deep longings within our souls.
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I have such fond memories of the Anne of Green Gables books!
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Me too! And as I read her life story, I find that she wrote from personal experience,which was closely tied to the place where she lived. This is the first time that I explored her poetry. I am so glad that you stopped by!!!
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