Flossie Cabanis speaks from the quiet of the grave, remembering how a touring production of “East Lynne” at the village opera house made her dream of a larger life. At sixteen she fell under the spell of Ralph Barrett, an ambitious actor, and followed that infatuation all the way to New York. The leap from Bindle’s opera house to Broadway proved too great: Ralph disappeared, leaving her alone, and she trailed home as a failure. There is some satisfaction, or at least bitter comfort, in knowing that life eventually broke him too. But now she rests among silent fields and feels no kindred spirits around her. She longs for a truly great actress like Eleonora Duse to stand before her grave and read her words, as if only someone with that depth could understand the pathos of her small, thwarted life. The mood is wistful, lonely, and quietly regretful.
Flossie Cabanis — Summary
From Bindle’s opera house in the village To Broadway is a great step. But I tried to take it, my ambition fired When sixteen years of age, Seeing “East Lynne,” played here in the village By Ralph Barrett, the coming Romantic actor, who enthralled my soul. True, I trailed back home, a broken failure, When Ralph disappeared in New York, Leaving me alone in the city— But life broke him also. In all this place of silence There are no kindred spirits. How I wish Duse could stand amid the pathos Of these quiet fields And read these words.