The Optimist

Leigh Mitchell Hodges wrote an column called "The Optimist" in the early part of the 20th century. I can't find much more information about this author.  Florence has penciled in a date of 1/3/34.

 

  

Florence on one of her beloved cruises.

"Now the New Year, reviving old desires";
   Restoring hope, recalling banished dreams;
   Another round of being which redeems,Through faith, the treasure claimed by fear's old fires;
Now the awakened spirit which aspires
   To happier hours, and seeks the golden gleams
   Of love's deep peace; of labor that beseems,
The quest for what the pilgrim soul requires.
O, fairer may we weave this added strand,
   To match the Master's pattern; to adorn
The tapestry of time with deeds that stand,
   Unblemished in the sight of years unborn!
O, better may we serve the common need,
Of men, to be of fear and envy freed!

                  ~Leigh Mitchell Hodges