Introduction
Born: January 15, 1834, Orono, Maine. Note: Julian says 1836; her tombstone says 1834.
Died: July 20, 1899, California.
Buried: Los Gatos Memorial Park, San Jose, California.
Pseudonyms
- Inez
Born: January 15, 1834, Orono, Maine. Note: Julian says 1836; her tombstone says 1834.
Died: July 20, 1899, California.
Buried: Los Gatos Memorial Park, San Jose, California.
Pseudonyms
Frances was the daughter of Sumner Laughton and Mary A. Parker, and wife of lawyer Benjamin H. Mace of Bangor (married 1855).
In 1837, her family moved to Foxcroft (now Dover-Foxcroft), Maine, where she grew up.
By age 10, she was studying Latin, and had verses published by age 12.
The family later moved to Bangor, Maine, where she graduated from high school, and studied German and music with private teachers.
In 1885, the Mace family moved to San Jose, California.
Only waiting till the shadows
Are a little longer grown,
Only waiting till the glimmer
Of the day’s last beam is flown;
Till the night of earth is faded
From this heart once full of day,
Till the dawn of Heav’n is breaking
Through the twilight soft and gray.
Only waiting till the reapers
Have the last sheaf gathered home,
For the summer-time hath faded
And the autumn winds are come.
Quickly, reapers, gather quickly
The last ripe hours of my heart—
For the bloom of life is withered,
And I hasten to depart.
Only waiting till the angels
Open wide the mystic gate,
At whose feet I long have lingered,
Weary, poor, and desolate.
Even now I hear their footsteps
And their voices far away:
If they call me I am waiting—
Only waiting to obey.
Only waiting till the shadows
Are a little longer grown,
Only waiting till the glimmer
Of the day’s last beam is flown;
Then from out the folded darkness
Holy, deathless stars shall rise,
By whose light my soul will gladly
Wing her passage to the skies.
Frances Parker Laughton Mace
Legends, Lyrics and Sonnets, 1883