p. 315 | POETS IN THE KITCHEN

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 21, 1881

POETS IN THE KITCHEN.

THERE is a lady living in a little four-room cottage in the environs of Boston, whose name is well known to literary people. She depends wholly upon her own exertions for the support of herself and children, and does all her own house work, yet her cottage is the focus of the best society of the locality. A gentleman calling there recently was received at the door by a daughter of the lady, who told him her mother was too busy to be called, but that he could see her in the kitchen if he pleased; and he followed her to that room. The lady greeted him without the least embarrassment, though she had on a big apron and her sleeves were pinned back to her shoulders. She was cutting a pumpkin into strips for pies; and there sat a venerable gentleman gravely paring the strips to the accompaniment of brilliant conversation.

I was asked to guess who this gentleman was, and after several fruitless attempts, was told that it was the poet Longfellow. While the pumpkin paring was in process another distinguished poet called, and he insisted upon being impressed into the service. It was a dreary day outside, and no one cared to leave the pleasant cottage, so they all stayed to lunch, one of the pies forming the piece de resistance of the occasion. Speaking of the incident afterward, the lady said: “My friends are kind enough to come and see me, though they know I can not leave my work to entertain them. Visiting and work must proceed together, and when I set my callers at work with me we are sure to have an agreeable time.”—Lippincott's Magazine