Inspirational Quotes by Mary Ainge de Vere (Madeline S. Bridges) (American Poet)

Madeline S. Bridges (1844–1920) was the pen name of Mary Ainge de Vere, an American poet and author from Brooklyn, New York. She sometimes published with her real name.

Born in Brooklyn, de Vere was the daughter of Irish immigrants from Donegal. Her father, Thomas Ainge de Vere, was the proprietor-editor and of The Morning Post, Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s first daily newspaper. He was later the associate editor of Irish World, journalist Patrick Ford’s newspaper.

De Vere had her first poem published in a New York daily at age 14. With her father’s assistance, she published at age 25 her first book, Love Songs and Other Poems (1870.) Her verses appeared in The Century, Harper’s, Frank Leslie’s, Lippincott’s, Littell’s Living Age, and other well-known American journals and periodicals of her time.

In addition to light verse, de Vere also published satirical and witty squibs in the pages of comic magazines and the lighter columns of more serious publications. Her best-known serious poems include “The Quiet House,” “The Brook,” “Life’s Mirror,” “We Two,” and “Good-bye, Sweetheart.”

The Open Book: Humorous Verse (1915) is an anthology of Bridges’s verses.

READ: Works by Mary Ainge de Vere (Madeline S. Bridges)

WHEELS AND WHEELS

The maiden with her wheel of old
Sat by the fire to spin,
While lightly through her careful hold
The flax slid out and in.

To-day, her distaff, rock and reel
Far out of sight are hurled,
For now the maiden with her wheel
Goes spinning round the world.
—Mary Ainge de Vere (Madeline S. Bridges)

LIFE’S MIRROR

There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true,
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.

Give love, and love to your life will flow,
A strength in your utmost need,
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.

Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind;
And honor will honor meet;
And a smile that is sweet will surely find
A smile that is just as sweet.

Give pity and sorrow to those who mourn,
You will gather in flowers again
The scattered seeds from your thoughts outborne
Though the sowing seemed but vain.

For life is the mirror of king and slave,
‘Tis just what we are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
—Mary Ainge de Vere (Madeline S. Bridges)
Topics: Conscience, Health, Positive Attitudes, Giving, Persistence, Optimism

Inspirational Quotes by Mary Ainge de Vere (Madeline S. Bridges) (American Poet)

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