… he gave her in his poem the one thing that eased her distress, old age. But he didn’t stop there. His words included an imagined history of their time together. As death approached, … her gaze was clear, fixed on the face of her husband as, by the light of a single candle, he read, and read again, his written words, the celebration of their history that could never be, and yet, because of their love for one another, would be a love story for all time.
I stumbled across a song today, WHEN YOU AND I WERE YOUNG, MAGGIE. It just may hold the secret for living a beautiful life together, which is Give A Beautiful Gift.
George W. Johnson, a school teacher, wrote the lyrics to this song in 1864 as a poem for Maggie Clark, his young wife of 23 who was dying of Tuberculosis. She would not see 24.
Maggie was distraught by the knowledge that she would die so young. So much did George love Maggie, that he gave her in his poem the one thing that eased her distress, old age. But he didn’t stop there. His words included an imagined history of their time together. As death approached, Maggie struggled through the chaos wrought on her body by the disease. But, her spirit was calm and her gaze was clear, fixed on the face of her husband as, by the light of a single candle, he read, and read again, his written words, the celebration of their history that could never be, and yet, because of their love for one another, would be a love story for all time.
The approach of death is not a requirement for initiating a gift for beautiful living. A beautiful gift is not a thing, it’s a state of heart. In his poem George said to Maggie, “Here is my entire life….. with you.”
So, here’s the beautiful gift you can give right now, simple words and the thought with them :
“I cannot imagine my life without you. The place that holds my love, my heart, my home is wherever I am……with you.”
Here is George’s poem for Maggie :
WHEN YOU AND I WERE YOUNG, MAGGIE
Lyrics by George W. Johnson – 1864
The creek and the rusty old mill, Maggie
Where we sat in the long, long ago.
The green grove is gone from the hill, Maggie
Where first the daisies sprung
The old rusty mill is still, Maggie
Since you and I were young.
A city so silent and lone, Maggie
Where the young and the gay and the best
In polished white mansion of stone, Maggie
Have each found a place of rest
Is built where the birds used to play, Maggie
And join in the songs that were sung
For we sang just as gay as they, Maggie
When you and I were young.
They say I am feeble with age, Maggie
My steps are less sprightly than then
My face is a well written page, Maggie
But time alone was the pen.
They say we are aged and grey, Maggie
As spray by the white breakers flung
But to me you’re as fair as you were, Maggie
When you and I were young.
And now we are aged and grey, Maggie
The trials of life nearly done
Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie
When you and I were young.
The words were put to music by J.A.Butterfield in 1866.
Here’s the song performed by Tom Roush. Enjoy.
So, here’s the beautiful gift you can give right now, simple words and the thought with them :
“I cannot imagine my life without you.
The place that holds
my love, my heart, my home
is wherever I am……with you.”
The End
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