The Story of My Life: With her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert MacyKeller, Helen
General
The Story of My Life: With her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert Macy
Keller, Helen
Deafblind women -- United States -- Biography; Keller, Helen, 1880-1968
More than once in the course of my story I have referred to my love of
the country and out-of-door sports. When I was quite a little girl, I
learned to row and swim, and during the summer, when I am at Wrentham,
Massachusetts, I almost live in my boat. Nothing gives me greater
pleasure than to take my friends out rowing when they visit me. Of
course, I cannot guide the boat very well. Some one usually sits in
the stern and manages the rudder while I row. Sometimes, however, I go
rowing without the rudder. It is fun to try to steer by the scent of
watergrasses and lilies, and of bushes that grow on the shore. I use
oars with leather bands, which keep them in position in the oarlocks,
and I know by the resistance of the water when the oars are evenly
poised. In the same manner I can also tell when I am pulling against the
current. I like to contend with wind and wave. What is more exhilarating
than to make your staunch little boat, obedient to your will and muscle,
go skimming lightly over glistening, tilting waves, and to feel the
steady, imperious surge of the water!
I also enjoy canoeing, and I suppose you will smile when I say that I
especially like it on moonlight nights. I cannot, it is true, see the
moon climb up the sky behind the pines and steal softly across the
heavens, making a shining path for us to follow; but I know she is
there, and as I lie back among the pillows and put my hand in the water,
I fancy that I feel the shimmer of her garments as she passes. Sometimes
a daring little fish slips between my fingers, and often a pond-lily
presses shyly against my hand. Frequently, as we emerge from the shelter
of a cove or inlet, I am suddenly conscious of the spaciousness of the
air about me. A luminous warmth seems to enfold me. Whether it comes
from the trees which have been heated by the sun, or from the water, I
can never discover. I have had the same strange sensation even in the
heart of the city. I have felt it on cold, stormy days and at night. It
is like the kiss of warm lips on my face.
My favourite amusement is sailing. In the summer of 1901 I visited Nova
Scotia, and had opportunities such as I had not enjoyed before to make
the acquaintance of the ocean. After spending a few days in Evangeline's
country, about which Longfellow's beautiful poem has woven a spell of
enchantment, Miss Sullivan and I went to Halifax, where we remained the
greater part of the summer. The harbour was our joy, our paradise. What
glorious sails we had to Bedford Basin, to McNabb's Island, to York
Redoubt, and to the Northwest Arm! And at night what soothing, wondrous
hours we spent in the shadow of the great, silent men-of-war. Oh, it was
all so interesting, so beautiful! The memory of it is a joy forever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account