Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

Page 15 text:

The Afary iahhcin Sn iinar) ' . 7 fering from one another only from the fact that they are pre- sented under different circumstances. Manfred passes his life among the Alps, a lonely recluse. The magnificent scen- ery surrounding him inspires him and he seeks to drown his griefs in an intellectual life; thus the higher part of his nature is developed, and the superhuman glamour which overcasts him veils his person with awe and grandeur. Conrad and Lara give vent to their sorrows by daring exploits and brave deeds of warfare. Childe Harold roams the earth and seeks diversion from his woe by revelling in the grandeur of nature and in scenes sacred in history. Thus, all those who appreciate the greatness of Byron ' s poetry must realize sadly that the greatest creations of his genius were the ofifspring of sorrow. k. d. y. THE COLONIAL PERIOD IN VIRGINIA. Tons, the daughters of the Colonial Dames of the olden days , every page of Virginia history is dear, and though what we glean from her first years of hardship and trial comes to us through a mist blown about by the winds of old yeais yet even that is a cherished tradition. Now and then the veil of uncertainty lifts and we see an adventurous band sail over the sea in search of pearls and gold and land at Jamestown in 1607. Through all the chang- ing years of hope and doubt, failure and success, when faction and strife ran high and Indian treachery was always near, we see the rulers, from the wise and gallant Smith to the false and rebellious Ratcliflfe, ' not worth remembering but to his dishonor ' ' come and go, vainly tr3 ' ing to hold the reins of governmetit. Like a pall we see starvation settle down upon the colonists ; Indian cruelties lose their terrors, famine stares them in the face and the hearts of men turn to stone. They were in the last days of May, 1610, and day by day they strained their eyes to search the far horizon, then turned back, while despair pressed heavily But help was near, and

Page 14 text:

6 The A7tn7ial of moiis. Byronism became the rage, the new idol was petted, spoiled and humored. Even the wild and dissipated life into which he plunged at this time was considered interesting, and all the world admired and endeavored to imitate the haughty and reserved bearing which characterized him. That much of this reserve and haughtiness was affected we learn from Mr. Moore, who tells us that Byron was intensely shy by nature and that he jealously concealed this timidity by assuming a haughty and distant manner; for his pride could not tolerate that he .should exhibit timidity before these fashionable people whom he neither cared for nor respected. Three years after his return to England he married, and the real trouble of his life began. After one short year came the separation from his wife, and the world turned upon him and ca.st him aside with a violence and a suddenness almost incredi- ble; he was lampooned, ridiculed and hissed. His pride had received a deadly blow, and filled with mingled feelings of in- dignation, bitterness and remorse, after a month he fled from his country never to return. Though we know that much of his life abroad was reckless and uncreditably spent, in the last few months of his life he displayed a brave and self-sacrificing spirit in entering into the struggles of the Greeks. This is a brief outline of Byron ' s life, one of the saddest and most interesting in history. Strongly impulsive, unhappy and consumed with a desire for affection and sympathy, his feelings must have an outlet, and as he was a poet he found ex- pression in his poetry. It seems to have been the dark side of his life that characterizes his poetry much more than the lighter side. Hence he revels in painting the grand and gloomy side of nature, the lofty mountains, the .storms, the ruin, all of these form the theme for his grandest descriptions, as the moonlight scene of the Coliseum so gloriously described in his Manfred, the shipwreck in Don Juan, the description of the storms and mountains in Childe Harold. In all of his heroes we recognize the same predominant traits, they are all the same grand, gloomy characters, men of intense passions with a won- derous capacity for love, yet separated from the world and hu- man companionship by trouble which has embittered them. Such men are Manfred, Conrad, Lara, and Childe Harold, dif-

Page 16 text:

8 The Annual of Lord Delaware appeared at the very moment when the fleet with the few surviving colonists, was preparing to sail away. But now Jamestown colony had come to stay and in and out between the threads of history we find a tender, graceful romance woven. We furget the deeds of the noble Delaware and care not for the grim old soldier, Thomas Dale, while our hearts are beating truly to the old, old story , told by an Englishman to Powhatan ' s dearest daughter in the shad- ow of the forest trees. Many changes and reverses passed over the colony and cloudy days would come ; but year by year its borders spread ; the red-skinned savage moved their hunting grounds back toward the Blue Ridge mountains and other towns and settle- ments sprang up. It is to Jamestown, that old historic city, on whose sandy shores the river encroaches year by year and where the sea- breezes blow over the ruined church tower, that our affections turn, and to the narrow streets of Williamsburg and the old plantation homes that stand on the banks of the James and the York. Here it was that the good old times held high carnival and Virginia reached the period called the ' ' Golden. Cooke in his Virginia, states that probably the most fruitful cause of the sudden development of the first adven- turers into lords of society, was the Cavalier invasion after the execution of Charles I. This element was much modified by its blending with the staunch adherents of the Commonwealth, while Huguenot refugees infused a stream of rich, pure blood into Virginia society; as the result of this we have the Colonial character, combining the courtly grace and courtesy of the one with the courage, love of liberty, and determination of the other. Down on the tide-water, mirth ran high and on the old plantations, as well as in the royal capital, there were fes- tivities of every description. Toward the mountains and be- yond, the currents of Colonial life ran stiller and deeper and Scotch-Irish, born of Cavenanter blood, rose with the dawn, to hew down forests, build churches and school houses, while German-Lutherans toiled and struggled with many a homesick longing for the Faderland.