Life in the Clearings versus the Bush — John Shaqi
Life in the Clearings versus the BushMoodie, Susanna
History
Life in the Clearings versus the Bush
Moodie, Susanna
Frontier and pioneer life -- Ontario; Moodie, Susannah, 1803-1885; Ontario -- Description and travel
The want of sympathy experienced by him from men of his own class,
pressed sorely upon the heart of the sensitive man of talent and
refinement; he found very few who could appreciate or understand his
mental superiority, which was pronounced as folly and madness by the
ignorant persons about him. A new country, where all are rushing eagerly
forward in order to secure the common necessaries of life, is not a
favourable soil in which to nourish the bright fancies and delusive
dreams of the poet. Dr. Huskins perceived his error too late, when he no
longer retained the means to remove to a more favourable spot,--and his
was not a mind which could meet and combat successfully with the ills
of life. He endeavoured to bear proudly the evils of his situation, but
he had neither the energy nor the courage to surmount them. He withdrew
himself from society, and passed the remainder of his days in a
solitary, comfortless, log hut on the borders of the wilderness. Here he
drooped and died, as too many like him have died, heartbroken and alone.
A sad mystery involves the last hours of his life: it is said that he
and Dr. Sutor, another talented but very dissipated man, had entered
into a compact to drink until they both died. Whether this statement is
true cannot now be positively ascertained. It is certain, however, that
Dr. Sutor was found dead upon the floor of the miserable shanty occupied
by his friend, and that Dr. Huskins was lying on his bed in the agonies
of death. Could the many fine poems composed by Dr. Huskins in his
solitary exile, be collected and published, we feel assured that
posterity would do him justice, and that his name would rank high among
the bards of the green isle.
To The Memory of Dr. Huskins.
"Neglected son of genius! thou hast pass'd
In broken-hearted loneliness away;
And one who prized thy talents, fain would cast
The cypress-wreath above thy nameless clay.
Ah, could she yet thy spirit's flight delay,
Till the cold world, relenting from its scorn,
The fadeless laurel round thy brows should twine,
Crowning the innate majesty of mind,
By crushing poverty and sorrow torn.
Peace to thy mould'ring ashes, till revive
Bright memories of thee in deathless song!
True to the dead, Time shall relenting give
The meed of fame deserved--delayed too long,
And in immortal verse the Bard again shall live!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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