In recognition of some of the first snow storms of the year, we thought we'd post this weather-appropriate poem by prominent 19th century American poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Enjoy today's poem of the day, by English author Lewis Carroll, best known for Alice in Wonderland.

It is time to give that-of-myself which I could not at first:
To offer you now at last my least and my worst:
Minor, absurd preserves,
The shell's end-curves,

Imagining you'd come to say goodbye,
I made a doll of raffia and string.
I gave her thatch hair, and a broomstick skirt
of patchwork satin rags. Around each eye

Let us go now into the forest.
Trees will pass by your face,
and I will stop and offer you to them,
but they cannot bend down.

As I went down the hill along the wall
There was a gate I had leaned at for the view
And had just turned from when I first saw you

She

I'm waiting for the man I hope to wed.
I've never seen him - that's the funny part.
I promised I would wear a rose of red,

Here's the mould of a musical bird long passed from light,
Which over the earth before man came was winging;
There's a contralto voice I heard last night,
That lodges with me still in its sweet singing.

We live in our own world,
A world that is too small
For you to stoop and enter
Even on hands and knees,
The adult subterfuge.

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of Heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;

It took the sea a thousand years,
A thousand years to trace
The granite features of this cliff,
In crag and scarp and base.

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;

LIFE, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.

I can write no stately proem
As a prelude to my lay;
From a poet to a poem
I would dare to say.

I taught myself to live simply and wisely,
to look at the sky and pray to God,
and to wander long before evening
to tire my superfluous worries.

Two lovers by a moss-grown spring:
They leaned soft cheeks together there,
Mingled the dark and sunny hair,
And heard the wooing thrushes sing.

Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,

How can I keep my soul in me, so that
it doesn't touch your soul? How can I raise
it high enough, past you, to other things?

Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
All fashioned and filled, long ago,
By children now in their prime.

I am the pillars of the house;
The keystone of the arch am I.
Take me away, and roof and wall
Would fall to ruin utterly.

No matter how much time passes since Charlotte Bronte first wrote her epic novel, Jane Eyre, no one loses interest in the plight of her steadfast heroine, Jane.  But what if the tables were turned and we could judge the story from another viewpoint?  In her 1966 novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys did what nobody else thought to do before: take the reader inside the mind of the madwoman in the attic.

Was I clever enough?  Was I charming?
Did I make at least one good pun?
Was I disconcerting?  Disarming?
Was I wise?  Was I wan?  Was I fun?

To be in love
Is to touch things with a lighter hand.

Delightful task! To rear the tender thought,
To teach the young idea how to shoot,
To pour the fresh instruction o er the mind,

One of our goals for this site, in particular the “Life Altering Books” section, is to share our appreciation for the literature, poetry, quotes and even songs, that have impacted our lives – in both small and big ways.  Here is one passage from a favourite novel, To the Lighthouse, written by Virginia Woolf in 1927.  It spans the years 1910 to 1920.

Before, we’ve discussed how L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables and the books that inspired Road to Avonlea, saw the presence of God in nature.  Pantheists believe that nature and God are one, and some of Montgomery’s favourite poets followed this doctrine.

When venturing to form a list of the most famous, virtuous mothers in literature, I thought I would have an easy task.  Some easily sprang to mind – the aggravating, yet loveable, Mrs. Bennet, the stoic matriarch of the March family, Marmee, and the soft-tempered farmer’s wife, Caroline Ingalls.

A closer look can sometimes reveal the true meanings of a nation’s oldest songs, passed down from generation to generation.  Upon looking through Sullivan Entertainment’s archival research that was conducted for the countless historical aspects of Road to Avonlea, I found a few old Maritime songs that were used as a frame of reference for the show.

Francis Bacon once said that, “the genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs”.  If that is true, the proverbial language of Prince Edward Island proves the small province to be a very witty and original place to live.

“There are as many kinds of love as there are flowers; everlastings that never wither; speedwells that wait for the wind to fan them out of life; blood-red mountain lilies that pour their voluptuous sweetness out for one day and lie in the dust at night.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

“A moment with a book is basic self-care, the kind of skill you pass along to your children as you would a security blanket or a churchgoing habit.” – Erin Blakemore, “The Heroine’s Bookshelf”

We recently spoke about all the L.M. Montgomery “Reading Circles” that sprang up in the month of January.  Fans of the Anne books and series of novels that inspired Road to Avonlea – The Story Girl and The Golden Road – vowed to return to these works, as well as pieces by Maud previously unread, including her own journals.

Frosty, white and cold it lies
Underneath the fretful skies;
Snowflakes flutter where the red
Banners of the poppies spread;
And the drifts are wide and deep
Where the lilies fell asleep.

It is accepted that the details of an author’s life will sometimes affect their work, whether they realize it or not.  Often, authors will insert the smallest personal details into their text and it is only through their journals or letters that we can discover the reasons why.

The Christmas Night
by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Wrapped was the world in slumber deep,
By seaward valley and cedarn steep,
And bright and blest were the dreams of its sleep;
All the hours of that wonderful night-tide through

Kevin Sullivan deliberately placed Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe and Felix King in the center of the chaos of the First World War in order to present a stark contrast to the beauty and innocence of the age of Avonlea.  Their idyllic lives are thrown off balance in the confusion of this new era.

L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables and the novels that inspired Road to Avonlea, is considered to be an important fixture in classic Canadian literature.  But what was the author’s own opinion on the state of Canadian literature in her time?  It seems she didn’t think it yet existed.  Here’s a direct excerpt from her journal, written on Aug. 27, 1919, in which she expresses her views.

Sara Stanley was famous in Avonlea for her ability to trap audiences in her web of storytelling.  In Season One’s episode, “How the Story Girl Earns Her Name”, Sara’s knack for words and her emotional draw becomes very apparent when she narrates The Little Match Girl during Jasper Dale's magic lantern show.

Lucy Maud Montgomery is famous for her love of Prince Edward Island and all its beauty that endlessly inspired her writing.  And her journals and letters reveal that she did not shy away from the places that most people tend to avoid or connect with sadness.

It’s sometimes hard to imagine some of the world’s most famous artists in their earliest school days.  But, like everyone else, they had to go through the often dreaded season of “back to school”.  Here are some bits of trivia about Lucy Maud Montgomery’s first days at school as a young girl.  Readers of her novels will appreciate where she may have picked up some inspiration for her short stories and novels.

Like Anne of Green Gables, many story concepts and characters used in the series Road to Avonlea were based upon the works of L.M. Montgomery.  But many of these stories were more than mere fiction and were closer to the author’s heart than some readers may know.

As Anne Shirley says, “There's a book of revelations in everyone’s life”. And when you read L.M. Montgomery’s journals, there is revelation upon revelation, especially concerning how she felt when she wrote her famous novels.

Rhythmic beating of dainty feet,
Faces outvying the costly blooms,
Perfumes subtle, and strange and sweet;
Music pulsing through brilliant rooms,