Charles W. Chesnutt

Name: The House Behind the Cedars — I
Author: Charles W. Chesnutt

The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

Summary

“The House Behind the Cedars — I”, published in 1900, is a work by Charles W. Chesnutt. It explores elements such as Warwick, Front Street and market.

Quotes from The House Behind the Cedars — I (Charles W. Chesnutt)

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ Who has not known some even-tempered old man or woman who seemed to have drunk of the fountain of youth? Who has not seen somewhere an old town that, having long since ceased to grow, yet held its own without perceptible decline?
Some such trite reflection--as apposite to the subject as most random reflections are--passed through the mind of a young man who came out of the front door of the Patesville Hotel about nine o'clock one fine morning in spring, a few years after the Civil War, and started down Front Street toward the market-house. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ Time touches all things with destroying hand; and if he seem now and then to bestow the bloom of youth, the sap of spring, it is but a brief mockery, to be surely and swiftly followed by the wrinkles of old age, the dry leaves and bare branches of winter. And yet there are places where Time seems to linger lovingly long after youth has departed, and to which he seems loath to bring the evil day. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ The house stood on a corner, around which the cedar hedge turned, continuing along the side of the garden until it reached the line of the front of the house. The piazza to a rear wing, at right angles to the front of the house, was open to inspection from the side street, which, to judge from its deserted look, seemed to be but little used. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ The young woman kept on down Front Street, Warwick maintaining his distance a few rods behind her. They passed a factory, a warehouse or two, and then, leaving the brick pavement, walked along on mother earth, under a leafy arcade of spreading oaks and elms. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ The street down which Warwick had come intersected Front Street at a sharp angle in front of the old hotel, forming a sort of flatiron block at the junction, known as Liberty Point,--perhaps because slave auctions were sometimes held there in the good old days. Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ He's be'n kin' er feeble fer de las' few yeahs. An' I reckon," continued the undertaker solemnly, his glance unconsciously seeking a row of fine caskets standing against the wall,--"I reckon he'll soon be goin' de way er all de earth. `Man dat is bawn er 'oman hath but a sho't time ter lib, an' is full er mis'ry. He cometh up an' is cut down lack as a flower.' `De days er his life is three-sco' an' ten'--an' de ole jedge is libbed mo' d'n dat, suh, by five yeahs, ter say de leas'." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ He had noticed the gentleman's involuntary pause and his interest in the opposite house, and had stopped work for a moment to watch the stranger as he went on down the street.
"Nev' min' 'bout dat man," said the elder one. "You 'ten' ter yo' wuk an' finish dat bairl-stave. You spen's enti'ely too much er yo' time stretchin' yo' neck atter other people. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars — I (1900)

“ An' den all de dead has ter be buried. An' we does ou' sheer of it, suh, we does ou' sheer. We conduc's de obs'quies er all de bes' w'ite folks er de town, suh."
Warwick left the undertaker's shop and retraced his steps until he had passed the lawyer's office, toward which he threw an affectionate glance. A few rods farther led him past the old black Presbyterian church, with its square tower, embowered in a stately grove ”

Charles W. Chesnutt

Summary

Quotes from The House Behind the Cedars — I (Charles W. Chesnutt)

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