Little snippets of sentiment tucked away amidst the papers of Agnes Tully Stevens reveal tiny glimpses of what she saw as beautiful. An old postcard—perhaps passed along to her from her own mother’s papers—captures a stanza from a Rudyard Kipling poem and preserves it within a floral watercolor for future consideration.
Who knows what made the owner stop to treasure this find in some five and dime store. Words? Presentation? Could it be a gift from someone who meant much to the recipient?
The poem itself, called “The Artist’s Heaven” according to an 1899 edition of The American Farmer, contains three stanzas, of which the one quoted below is the conclusion. Holding a thought that doubtless invited Catherine—and, in turn, her daughter—to ponder its meaning, this simple postcard was never employed as messenger. Never marked nor addressed, it claimed a coveted spot among those papers which remained for a century tucked away as a personal treasure.
And only the Master shall praise us, and
only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one
shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God
of the Things as They Are!