THE BIRD IN
THE BOX
BY
MARY MEARS
Author of "The Breath of The Runners"
TORONTO
WILLIAM BRIGGS
All rights reserved, including that of translation
into foreign languages including the Scandinavian
Copyright, 1910, by
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
October, 1910
To
THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER
"NELLY WILDWOOD"
THIS BOOK IS DEVOTEDLY INSCRIBED
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The soul of man at birth is immured in a prison. It is like a bird singing in a cage, heedless of the bars that confine it. But later the soul knows its bondage.
Panting with a desire for liberty, man tries in two ways to attain it, through his ability to labour, through his capacity to feel.
He has need of freedom, hence the poem, the ship, the engine, the thousand cunning and gigantic structures for annihilating space, for chaining the forces of nature.
He has need of freedom, hence the universal outpouring of his affections, the glory and the emancipation of his highest love.
June, 1910
CONTENTS
BOOK I
CHAPTER
I [The Long Journey and the Longer One]
II [The Waiting of Women]
III [The Sun]
IV [Amid Bleak Surroundings]
V [The Barnacle]
VI [The Figure-head Gains an Admirer]
VII [Concerning Alexander Emil St. Ives]
VIII [In the Cause of Science]
IX [The Old Fascination]
X [In Which a Kiss Is Given and Regretted]
XI [At the Old Burying Point]
XII [The Migratory Instinct]
BOOK II
I [The Street of Masts]
II [Emily Short—Toy-Maker]
III [Simon Hart to the Rescue]
IV [The Unexpected Happens]
V [Showing that Sacrifices Are not Always Appreciated]
VI [Despair and Desolation]
VII [Stop—Look—Listen]
VIII [A Woman's Caprice; A Father's Repentance; A Lover's Self-Conquest; A Girl's Pity]
IX [Rachel—Simon]
X [The Bird in the Box]
BOOK III
I [The House in Washington Square]
II [Continuation of the History of a Genius]
III [The Confession]
IV [How is it Possible to Stop Loving]
V [Love by the Sea]
VI [The Insistent Past]
VII [In Which John Smith Unburdens His Conscience]
VIII [The Place of the Statues]
IX [The Energy of Being]
X [In the Garden]
XI [Flames]
XII [Love Confronts Despair]
XIII [The Escape]