SHE BUILT HAPPINESS OUT OF TRAGEDY

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 35, 10 February 1939, Page 6

SHE BUILT HAPPINESS OUT OF TRAGEDY

SOME people are born to a life of tragedy, just as others are born to a life of supreme happiness. These things are, and no doubt always will be. But the extent of the tragedy may be greater or less according to the individual, and there ave those who can make of their tragedies, happinesses.

NE of these last was Dorothy Donaldson, only child of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Donaldson, of Oamaru. What, in their innermost hearts, the Donaldsons planned for their daughter, may only be conjectured; it is not fair to ask. Musical themselves, and sought after by the musical circles of. the White Stone Town, the Donaldsons must surely have hoped that their daughter would find the beauty and comfort they had found in music. Dorothy did find beauty in music-the music of the written word, At an early age she began to show ability in versewriting, and in short stories. Their quality was undeniable: And they sold. By her poems she may be longest remembered, and her name become familiar throughout New Zealand. She will write no more, for death has called her, but her verse will live.

HEN Dorothy was eleven, she underwent an operation for radical mastoid. _During this operation the optic nerve was severed. This first brought her into contact with tragedy. Almost total blindness resulted, and she lived in a world of darkness until her death at the close of the year just past. Bravely she faced her altered life. She was encouraged by her ‘mother-‘my lovely mother’’ Dorothy always called her-who never let her daughter know that the tragedy was of a dual nature. Dorothy’s trials had only begun. Three years ago deafness set in, and besides being denied the sights of the world, she was denied its sounds. It was enough to place anyone’s feet upon the ladder of despair. . But Dorothy had an unconquerable courage and a joy of life, together with a keen intellect. She learned to use a typewriter, and soon had a large circle of friends by correspondence.

Fier Poetry AND always she had a greater joy. Her poetry. Pathetic in its beauty, her poetry never once contained a word of reproach. In ‘‘My Silent World’’ she wrote: Silence everywhere- and yetThe air seems filled with sound, So that the old world I forget In this new one I’ve found. Could she write like that and be, within herself, unhappy? ‘ Perhaps she thought that she had taken her former gifts too lightly, not cherished them enough. . Perhaps she considered a warning note to others would not be out of place. In ‘‘Colours’’ there is a hint that men are inclined to accept what we have without giving thanks, without being grateful: Be glad that God has given you your eyes And you can see The beauty of His colours In a Uily’s ivory, Or scarlet-tinted hollyhock, A pansy brown and cream. She loved the things she had once seen, and kept the memory of them. with her always. Her appreciation of Nature’s beauty is apparent in ‘‘My Garden’’:. Have you seen my pretty garden, lying drenched in morning dew, With its countless pansy faces peeping shyly up at you? Climbing roses nodding gaily by the lgtticed window ledge: And blushing red geraniums, nestling ’neath the hawthorn hedge?

And so to the last verse: Oh, my garden is @ lovely thing im sunshine or im rain, With the power to ease my heart of its weariness or pain. Tt is more than home-for some-how-I can always feel that He Is walking in my garden, and ts ever close to me. All the comfort of her life is erowded into those last two lines. Dedication POROTHY realised to the full what her mother meant to her-perhaps what she meant to her mother also. She dedieated her poems to her mother, and it is obvious that ‘"‘my lovely mother’’ was her guiding inspiration. The dedication of her poems speaks more than any other words possibly could: ‘‘To you, my dear mother, these poems rightly belong, for without your guiding encouragement . could not have written them.’’ One of Dorothy’s most extra7

ordinary capabilities was Mm knitting articles of varied colours and intricate design. These remarkable achievements were a constant source of wonder to those possessed of their full faculties. Her work was neat, perfect, as finished as her poems. Learned Braille 1 ARLY in 1988 she went to the New Zealand Institute for the Blind at Auckland to learn Braille. Her radiant personality, the manner in which she had adapted herself to her dark, soundless world, made her a _ favourite there. with the staff and with her fellow pupils. Then again tragedy struck, and for the last time. Into this life of much promise there came an illness which forced her hasty removal to the Auckland Hospital. Developments were shockingly rapid, and she died on November 15. So sudden, indeed, was her death, that her guide and inspiration-‘my lovely mother’’-speeding over the miles from Oamaru to Auckland, did not reach her before she died. Her poems are not going to be allowed to die, Negotiations are now being made with an English publishing house for their publication. There seems little doubt that the volume will command a ready sale, but one believes that Dorothy would have thought less of that than: the fact that her messages would reach the hearts of many stricken down by Fate

Sill’s Tribute HER poems have been the subject of two special Sunday night broadcasts from 4ZB, Dunedin, by Jill, who is an intimate friend of Dorothy’s mother. The broadcasts were attractively presented, with music throughout, and they eaused widespread interest. One business man called at the station, saying he felt he had to come in, although he had never visited or telephoned a radio station in his life. He had settled down to

the radio for a quiet pipe, in anticipation of the usual type of music, but so interested did he become in the. recital of the poems that his pipe remained unlit. Through Jill, Dorothy’s messages have already begun to do their work, and the reading of this account of her life, a glorious triumph over adversity, may help further. A reading of her poems will complete that work. DOROTHY DONALDSON WAS ONE OF LIFE’S HEROINES.