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| Florence Leonette "Nettie" [Flagg] Cooke (1870 - 1904) |
Nettie had a short life that in many ways was tragic and I believe she turned to poetry to try to express her pain, her hope, and her discovery of respite and beauty when and where she could find it. She wrote numerous poems that are mostly sad, but they must have been cathartic for her given her experiences. I am very lucky and privileged to have several originals of her poetic writings and a few others that were transcribed by her eldest child (my grand aunt, Helen R. [Cooke] Roberts) from now lost originals. The poem in this post is one of the original poems in her handwriting that I now have in my collection.
To possibly understand where Nettie's poem originates, it is necessary to provide some brief context and background about Nettie.
Nettie was born in 1870 to George W. Flagg and his wife, Mary J. ("Jennie") Eaton. When Nettie was just two and half years old, her mother died at age 26. And then Nettie's father died at age 35 of "phthisis" (an archaic name for tuberculosis) when Nettie was barely nine years old.
By the time of the 1880 federal census, ten-year-old Nettie Flagg was living as a "boarder" in the home of Susannah Stanley (age 69) and her daughter Frances Stanley (age 30) in Attleborough, Massachusetts. She apparently lived with the Stanleys until she married Walter W. Cooke in August 1891 in North Attleborough. She and Walter had known one another since they were children. They were both 21 years old when they married.
Nettie's original handwritten poem is shown below. Precisely when Nettie wrote the poem is unknown, but since she died in July 1904 at age 34, the poem is at least 113 years old. So far as is known, it was never published anywhere before appearing here and being submitted as part of Bill West's Ninth Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge.
When I Have Time
By Florence Leonette "Nettie" Cooke
When I have time
So many things I'll do
To make life happier and more fair
For those whose lives are clouded with care
I'll help to lift them from their low despair
When I have time
When I have time
Kind words and loving smiles
I'll give to those whose pathway runs thro' tears
Who see no joy in the coming years
In many ways their weary lives I'll cheer
When I have time
When I have time
The one I love so well
Shall know no more these weary toilsome days
I'll lead her feet in pleasant paths always
And cheer her heart with words of sweetest praise
When I have time
When you have time
The one you hold so dear
May be beyond the reach of thy sweet intent
May never know that you so kindly meant
To fill her weary life with such content
When you had time
Now is the time
Ah, friend No longer wait
To scatter loving smiles and words of cheer
To those around whose lives are now drear
They may not need you in the coming years
Now is the time
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The photograph and handwritten original of the poem are from the personal collection of the author.
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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew
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Nettie was a talented poetess. She eloquently wrote what many others likely thought as they faced losses and sorrows in their lives. Thank you for sharing her work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a talented lady your great grandmother was! After I read this I couldn't help but wonder what else she might written if her life had not been so short.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John, for once again sharing one of Lettie's poems in the Challenge!
Nettie was a wise woman, John. How sad to have lost both parents when she was so young, and then to die at such a young age. It must be wonderful to have her originals in your possession.
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