Here are sweet June roses to wreathe the hair, Flowers, flowers with dewdrops deftly hung- Hearts were broken or hopes laid low- Goes by my palace of dreams. The voice of a bird in the twilight singing Its homeward flight from flowers remote, Is not more sweet than the sounds that float, Moving wind-like, evermore Through each long shady corridorSoft echoes borne from the vale of youth, Voices that gladdened me long ago, Passionate vows that were murmured low, Full of tenderness, love, and truth! But all things evil that darken my soul Thoughts of sorrow and sounds of dole— Can enter not: they have found a grave Under the shimmering Lethean wave That flows by my palace of dreams. Clothed with soft raiment of poesy, There are forms that move with stately paces! And looking forth from each niche I see, Smiling welcome and love to me, Wonderful faces! wonderful faces! And lo! through all this palace of mine The sweet rhymes wander- ballad and song, Quaint and merry, and many a time, On the wings of some melody glad and strong, My soul is borne to the innermost shrine, To the chambers fair that are furnished meet With Lydian music faint and sweet, For the ingoing of Love's light feet In my beautiful palace of dreams! The silken poppy with drooping head, Hang over the portals cool and gray Of my beautiful palace of dreams! There, served forever by memory, In my palace of dreams divine! For have I not Love in my palace of dreams! All gorgeous music 't is mine to hear! All pleasure roses 'tis mine to wear! And I softly live and I daintily fare With Love in my palace of dreams! MISS CATHARINE GENDRON POYAS. HE author of the "Year of Grief," (published in 1870 by Walker, Evans & Cogswell, Charleston,) is not a literary character, but a woman who, from the shade of retired life, has ventured twice to launch a little skiff on the ocean of letters, leaving them to float or sink at the mercy of the wind and wave. Her first volume, entitled "Huguenot Daughters, and other Poems," was published in 1849; but few copies were read beyond Charleston, or the shores of South Carolina, Miss Poyas' native State. Miss Catharine G. Poyas was born in Charleston, a daughter of the "Ancient Lady," who, it will be remembered by many Charlestonians, was held in high estimation, under that nom de plume, for her literary attainments and popular contributions to the leading journals of her day. The subject of this sketch was educated in Charleston, first by the Misses Ramsay, and afterward by the South Carolina Society School, under that accomplished teacher, Miss Anna Frances Simonton, of New York. This lady dying of yellow fever in 1827 or '28, Miss Poyas then left school and continued her studies alone, her own energy and love of learning supplying the need of a school-mistress. At an early age she began to make verses, which were circulated among admiring friends. It was not, however, by impulse of genius alone, that she became a poetess; reading with her being not a mere pastime, but a study for mental improvement: she cultivated her mind diligently by devoting herself to English literature, not skimming over, but mastering works of history, theology, biography, and poetrythese were her chief studies, the fruits of which are offered to the public in her interesting volume, "The Year of Grief." This volume seems to have been chiefly produced during and since the late war; and a very large proportion of the poems have been inspired by the events in its progress; sometimes full of hope and exultation, but more frequently a wail over its disastrous incidents and deadly results. It records, indeed, many years of grief instead of one. The first poem in the collection, which gives its title to the book, consists of a series of memorial sonnets, in which the author laments the losses in a single year of the good and great which her circle had known. These sonnets are all graceful of expression, tender, feeling, and deeply suffused with religious sentimenta sentiment, by the way, which infuses every verse issuing from the author's pen. The sonnet which follows is one of the prettiest and most perfect things in the volume; very sweet, graceful, and fanciful, the religious sentiment being still happily blended with the poetical. Indeed, in none of the verses of our author do we ever find them separated. She sings always either before the altar or at the grave. "Pure as a moonbeam sleeping on the sea, Or playing in the chalice of a flower Of Christian graces; the peculiar dower 1870. Yet not a night of darkness and of gloom — SELINA E. MEANS. THE future will discover the justice in admitting Mrs. Means among the "Writers of the South." "Reminiscences of York, by a Septuagenarian," is Mrs. Means most popular contribution to the literature of the day. The material for these reminiscences Mrs. Means gathered from her father, Dr. Moore, who for years has been a collator of Revolutionary anecdotes, and is the author of a pamphlet of considerable historical value, "A Life of Gen. Edward Lacey," forming a nucleus for the history of the partisan warfare of Upper Carolina in the Revolutionary war. The style and matter of these "Reminiscences" proving popular, Mrs. Means became a competitor for a prize offered by a Carolina, literary paper. Her novelette did not receive the prize, but was accepted and paid for by the proprietor. The title of this story is "Unknown." She has other and more ambitious literary ventures completed and in preparation. Mrs. Means was born April 21st, 1840, in Union District, S. C. From both parents she has a right to the pen of a ready writer. Her father's literary talent has been alluded to; and her mother was a sister of Dr. Josiah C. Nott, now of New York, formerly of Mobile, a distinguished physician and surgeon, and author of "The Types of Mankind," etc., etc., and of the late Prof. Henry Junius Nott, of the College of South Carolina, and author of two volumes of tales, called "Novelettes of a Traveller; or, Odds and Ends from the Knapsack of Thomas Singularity, Journeyman Printer." These tales were taken from life, and exhibit in a style of much humor the happy faculty possessed by Mr. Nott of catching every odd trait of character that presented itself. Prof. Nott and his wife were lost in the wreck of the unfortunate steamer "The Home," off the coast of North Carolina, October 13th, 1837. Mrs. Means is the wife of Dr. T. Sunter Means, of Glenn's Spring, South Carolina. 1871. LOUISA S. McCORD. RS. McCORD, the daughter of Langdon Cheves, Esq., well public December 3d, 1810, in Charleston. She was educated in Philadelphia. In 1840, Miss Cheves was married to D. J. McCord, of Columbia, S. C. In 1855 Mrs. McCord became a widow. Her residence is Columbia, South Carolina. Mrs. McCord's writings have consisted principally of essays and reviews, and she has written well on the difficult subject of political economy. Her published volumes are: My Dreams. A volume of poems, published in Philadelphia in 1848. Sophisms of the Protective Policy. A translation from the French of Bastiat. Published in New York. 1848. Caius Gracchus. A five-act tragedy. New York. 1851. Mrs. McCord was a contributor to the "Southern Quarterly Review," and the "Southern Literary Messenger," for a number of years from 1849. "Mrs. McCord's poetry is simply and clearly uttered, and is the expression of a healthful nature. Her tragedy of 'Caius Gracchus,' & dramatic poem for the closet, is balanced in its philosophy and argument, Cornelia wisely tempering the democratic fervor of her son. Many sound, pithy aphorisms of conduct may be extracted from this piece; all expressed with purity and precision. The character of Cornelia is well sustained." 1871. MRS. MRS. MARY C. RION. RS. RION resides in Winnsboro, S. C. Has published one volume on floriculture, entitled "The Ladies' Southern Florist." 12mo. Columbia, 1860. |