{"id":806,"date":"2011-04-14T20:49:33","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T20:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com\/?p=806"},"modified":"2011-04-14T20:49:33","modified_gmt":"2011-04-14T20:49:33","slug":"i-care-not-a-whit-for-the-laugh-or-the-sneer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/2011\/04\/14\/i-care-not-a-whit-for-the-laugh-or-the-sneer\/","title":{"rendered":"“I care not a whit for the laugh or the sneer…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

April is National Poetry Month<\/a>, so here is a poem by Kingston’s own romantic versifier, Benjamin “Cousin Benja” Mitchell. \u00a0Born in 1828, Benja lived with his parents and sister in picturesque Thatchwood Cottage on what is now Brookdale Street near the Duxbury line. \u00a0He spent much of his life roaming the woods and fields, communing with Nature and God, then returning home to inscribe his bursting spirit on the page. He wrote poems, short essays and obituaries in verse, \u00a0many of which were published in literary journals.<\/p>\n

After suffering from consumption<\/a>\u00a0for several years, Cousin Benja died on April 23, 1865. \u00a0His beloved sister Julia gathered his papers and had his works published in 1866.<\/p>\n

\"Verily<\/a>
"Verily your friend, Benja R. Mitchell, Kingston, 1864"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Natural and Happy<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>I am Nature’s own child — I am wild and romantic,
\nI love the green fields and the shady old wood ;
\nAnd the songs of the streamlets — oh, they drive me most frantic,
\nAs they dance o’er the pebbles in frolicsome mood !<\/p>\n

There’s the old rustic bridge that was built by our fathers,
\nAnd the wall by the cow-path, so mossy and old,
\nIs more dear to my heart than a bag full of dollars ;
\nThan the rustling of silks, or the shining of gold ;<\/p>\n

And oft when my hopes in the future do falter,
\nAnd visions of darkness have shrouded the mind ;
\nWith a mossy old stump in the woods for an altar,
\nHave I prayed that my heart be kept gentle and kind.<\/p>\n

Let those who delight heaps of gold to be piling,
\nPile on, if they choose, till it reaches the blue ;
\nBut be sure that when death sends his arrows a flying,
\nThat a balance of credit has been given to you !<\/p>\n

I know it is thought when the beard has grown stronger,
\nAnd a row of dark whiskers has mantled the face,
\nThat we should be childlike and gentle no longer,
\nAnd to “become like a child” is almost a disgrace !<\/p>\n

Just let a man live in accordance with Nature,
\nAppear as God made him, and use common sense,
\nHe would soon take a trip out to Taunton or Worcester,
\nWhere his board would be paid as a public expense !<\/p>\n

I know that my friends are oft shocked at my capers,
\nAnd wish I would learn to behave like a man ;
\nWear fashionable airs in preference to Nature’s —
\nAnd I’d like much to please them, but ’tis more than I can.<\/p>\n

They may laugh at my notions, and say that I’m odd,
\nBut I care not a whit for the laugh or the sneer ;
\nIf I’m true to my nature, and true to my God,
\n‘Twill be well with me always, with nothing to fear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April is National Poetry Month, so here is a poem by Kingston’s own romantic versifier, Benjamin “Cousin Benja” Mitchell. \u00a0Born in 1828, Benja lived with his parents and sister in picturesque Thatchwood Cottage on what is now Brookdale Street near the Duxbury line. \u00a0He spent much of his life roaming the woods and fields, communing … <\/p>\n

Continue reading ““I care not a whit for the laugh or the sneer…””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,15],"tags":[193],"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-people","tag-poems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kplma.org\/pique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}