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Two women born the same year-1879, both given the same first name, both poets, and living only 150 miles apart. One was a black woman, the other, a white woman. Both eventually were known as Effie Smith. What are the odds? In this episode, we uncover the fact that one writer’s work has been credited to the other. Sally aquired a 1906 diary and two journal like composition books filled with short stories, essays, and poems. The author’s name was not in any of the three manuscripts but when Sally read the diary and used the clues within, she discovered the author’s name; Effie Smith! But which Effie? Listen and you will find out. We would like to thank writer/poet Leatha Kendrick for her scholarly work on this subject and the time she gave us in our interview.
“Rosemary And Pansies” By Effie Smith Ely – 1909
PREPARATION BY EFFIE SMITH ELY
“I have no time for those things now,” we say;
“But in the future just a little way,
No longer by this ceaseless toil oppressed
I shall have leisure then for thought and rest.
When I the debts upon my land have paid,
Or on foundations firm my business laid,
I shall take time for discourse long and sweet
With those beloved who round my hearthstone meet;
I shall take time on mornings still and cool
To seek the freshness dim of wood and pool,
Where, calmed and hallowed by great Nature’s peace,
My life from its hot cares shall find release;
I shall take time to think on destiny,
Of what I was and am and yet shall be,
Till in the hush my soul may nearer prove
To that great Soul in whom we live and move.
All this I shall do sometime but not now—
The press of business cares will not allow.”
And thus our life glides on year after year;
The promised leisure never comes more near.
Perhaps the aim on which we placed our mind
Is high, and its attainment slow to find;
Or if we reach the mark that we have set,
We still would seek another, farther yet.
Thus all our youth, our strength, our time go past
Till death upon the threshold stands at last,
And back unto our Maker we must give
The life we spent preparing well to live.
The top 3 photos are from Effie Smith Ely’s Diary about her poem Preparation.
Pages from Effie’s Diary: A Soldiers Bible by Effie Smith Ely
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