1861–1911

Introduction

Born: 1861, Clin­ton, Wis­con­sin.

Died: Ap­ril 26, 1911, To­kyo, Ja­pan.

Biography

Gertrude was the wife of min­is­ter Will­iam M. Cur­tis (mar­ried 1890).

She at­tend­ed Be­loit High School, and taught in pub­lic schools in Har­vard, Il­li­nois for eight years.

After she and Will­iam mar­ried, they went to Ja­pan to be­gin mis­sion­ary work. Af­ter a few months in Sen­dai, they moved to Nii­ga­ta, where they worked most of their years in Ja­pan. They al­so spent some time in Ko­be and Ky­oto.

During 22 years of ser­vice there, they vi­sit­ed Am­eri­ca on­ly twice. They re­turned to Ja­pan from their last fur­lough in 1910.

Gertrude fell ill in ear­ly 1911, and died af­ter an op­era­tion in To­kyo.

Works

Poem

Crosses

With heart bowed down with sorrow I view my empty nest,
But when the cross I carry seems heavier than the rest,
I try to think of mothers with greater sorrows pressed.

I think of little children who lie on beds of pain,
Of anxious, weary mothers whose efforts are in vain
To help the little sufferers who’ll never rise again.

I know of many households that have a small wheeled chair;
Of little pairs of crutches some children have to wear,
And of the patient mothers who have this cross to bear.

I think of little children who’ve never seen the light,
To whom this world of sunshine is but a long, dark night,
And of the sad, sad mothers, whose prayer is just for sight.

And then I think of children who never are to hear
The sounds of joy and gladness that seem to us so dear;
Of mothers with this sorrow to bear year after year.

And thinking of these crosses that other mothers bear,
Of all their pain and sorrow, of all their toil and care,
I find the cross I carry is no more than my share.

Gertrude Benedict Curtis
Comforting Words for Sor­row­ing Mo­thers, 1902

Sources

Lyrics

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