Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1917 — Blessed Be Drudgery. [ARTICLE]

Blessed Be Drudgery.

«Blessed be drudgery.” In times of stress how the truth of these words is revealed! Tennyson has it that “the anguish of the singer made the sweetness of the song.” But only to the few is given the relief which comes from the conscious deliberate crystallization of grief into achievement. The power of producing a great poem, painting a world’s masterpiece, or evolving haunting chords of melody is not bestowed upon the majority, and those who have it possessed it always, though it was perchance dormant, needing the urge of strong emotion to bring it to the surface. For each, however, there is the daily round, the common task. ’ Things formerly scorned for their irksomeness, distasteful by reason of their monotony, are transfigured by life’s Gethsemanes, become veritable havens of refuge. The swirl of the broom the cleansing of the platter, the guardianship of little children. Ah! these broods the tender angel of forgetfulness, be-, neath whose* pitying, outstretched wings the agonized soul may find comfort and the peace which passes understanding. —Ruth Davenport. .