Page:My Friend Annabel Lee (1903).pdf/249

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XXII
The Message of a Tender Soul

"THE MESSAGE of a tender soul," said my friend Annabel Lee, "is a thing that will go far, oh, so far, and lose nothing of itself.

"When all things in the world are counted the beautiful things are in the greatest numbers. And when all the things in the world are counted the message of a tender soul counts greatly more than many.

"A tender soul receives back no gratitude for its message, and looks for no gratitude, and does not know what gratitude means. And the tenderness of the message is all unmade and all unknown, but is felt for long, long years.

"The message of a tender soul goes