Paxton High School - Reflector Yearbook (Paxton, IL)

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The Paxton High School Pel lector 13 dbifl ifl thr uptjnimirf Numbrr oplmmnrp 0ppartmrut— abp ittust Jlmpartant MAKING A POEM. (By Agnes Johnson.) There are different ways of making poetry, because there are different kinds of poetry. There is poetry written for pleasure, and poetry written at the expense of one’s friends to annoy them; hut worse than these, worse, in fact, than anything in heaven or earth, or in the naughty place under the earth, is writing poetry for English class. That is indeed an ordeal. To write poetry successfully, one should provide himself with a large table and a comfortable chair, several tablets, not less than half a dozen, and a couple of pencils. These are better than a pen and they should be made of strong wood, preferably oak, and should not b° indelible. These condi tions are readily understood when I state that the writer gets much comfort and inspiration from having his pencil while he awaits the com'ng of the Muse. The writer should seat himself on the chair, sit on one foot and twine the other around the leg of the chair; He should place his elbow upon the table, bury his hands in his hair, and chew said pencil, staring moodily at the light, the window, or any other object in full view, while considering a title for his masterpiece. Frowning aids the mind in tbs task, and if this is not successful, the muttering of certain expressive words in an invaluable aid I can not mention any of thes words, as profanity is not allowed in theme writing, but everyone has his favor te expressions and any of these incantatiouss will do, providing they are sufficiently sulphurous. When the title has Leen chosen, the next thing is to write the poem proper; first, write the first sentence; then close your eyes tightly, get a fresh grip on your hair, and name all the words rhyming with the last one of your sentence, alphabetically: to illustrate: the last word of your sentence is ‘allow , begin, “bow, cow, endow, fow, how, etc.’’ until you find an appropriate one. Continue in this manner until your poem is complete. Per-

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The Paxton High School Reflector 12 and accuracy contest. The material s chosen from familiar matter, and the grades will he determined both by speed and by accuracy. The class in lOng. II. were reading Matthew Arnold’s poem, “St. Brandon”. Upon being asked the question. “Who was Judas,” George Hanson answered, Some guy who got caught with his hair in a tree, I suppose.” The members of the Senior Class in Arithmetic Reviews are renewing their youth at present, busying themselves with what they call their “nv.m her work”. They are growing very proficient in all sorts o' calculation, even attempting to find out the amount of dirt in a hole of certain dimensions This effort may have been caused by the ofTer of a prize in Juik-to the one having the greatest number of head-marks. thes- be’ng given each day to the person keeping his place at the blackboard the longest. The nature of the prize has not been disclosed, but w’th eyes turned toward warmer weather, hints of ice-cream cones have been heard in the classroom The members of the Athqneum Lite-ary So-iety wish to express their thanks to our accommodating janitor, “Oeorge”, for his kindness in decorating o.ir stage at the recent literary. The decorations were very effective, ccns'sting of a large arch composed of white lattice work, with dark, green hangings at e'ther s de. We were also furnished with a new curtain. The old assembly hall presented a very festive appearance to the large audi- ence which assembled, and it was almost entirely due to the efforts of Mr. Papineau. In fact there are very few undertakings in P. H. S. of which our janitor does not do more than his share of labor, and we wish to express our appreciation of his kindly halp an 1 interest. Work has been begun upon the program which will be given by the Pla-tonian Literary Society during the latter part of March. The program will consist of several musical num-ibers, together with the rendition of “The Revenge of Shari-Hot-Su”, a Japanese play of two acts, dealing with the poetry and pathos of th Land of the Cherry Blossom. The cast of characters is not yet complete, but tryouts are being held under the direction of the faculty adviser. A Latin Play. The l atin JII. IV. class has begun work upon a Latin play, entitled “A Roman Wedding”, which will he given in Latin. The costumes will represent the dress of the ancient Romans and the setting will be that of a Roman house. The play will consist of three scenes, the betrothal, the wedding, and the taking of the bride from the home of her mother to the groom's home The cast of characters is not completed as yet, but every member of the class will have a part in it. The Latin I. classes are showing a great deal of interest in memorizing Latin quotations Some are mottoes of various states, while others are well known sayings of eminent Latin authors. '

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14 The Paxton High School Ref lector haps the meaning of your poem may he obscure or odd but that is of no moment providing the rhyme and meter are perfect. When tlie poem is complete, bow your head in a devout prayer of thanksgiving, utter a sigh of relief from the toes up, re-arrange your disordered tresses and remove those locks from beneath the nails whicn have ben torn from their native element during your period of mental stress. Then reassure your frightened parents, other relatives, neighbors, and the crowd of onlookers who have gathered to view your struggles, that it is not necessary to call the doctor, the undertaker or the bra n specialist, but that you have only written a Poem! (Note: Those of our would-be poets who are afflicted with baldness should not be discouraged, but hold their brains in their hands, anyway: indeed, this sort of massage may eventually cause the hair to again grow, i THE SENIOR SPECTRE By Agnes Johnson, ’17. (A Parody on Ixmgfellow’s Skeleton in Armor.) Speak, Speak, thou fearful guest Who. to thy hollow breast Still hath a note-book prest And comes’t to daunt me. Dressed not in sombre hue But in hright gold and blue Anc’ent class-sweater, too— Why dost thou haunt me? Then from those cavernous eyes Pale flashes seemed to rise As when the Northern skies Gleam in December And like the waters flow Tender December’s snow Came a dull voice of woe From the heart’s chamber: — ‘‘I was a Senior bold My deeds, though manifold Ne’er in Reflector was told— Never was taught thee! Take heed that in thy verse Thou dost this tale rehearse Else dread a school boy’s curse For this I sought thee. Here, with the wicked band When from class I was canned, I with my childish hand Flung notes, so bravely. And with my new fountain pen Traced I those pictures then. Far beyond human ken S'nned I thus gravely. And when I older grew Joined 1 the smoker’s crew Many the smoke-rings T blew With the marauders. Wild was the life we led. There was many an aching head Many a nose that bled—by our stern orders. Four years we onward bore And when that time was o’er We’d graduate, we were sure ’Yond teachers’ call. But our kind teachers wise Had in store a surprise We’d scarce believe our eyes— They flunked us all! Thus it went many years Habit soon dried our tears. I soon forgot the jeers, ’Twas no use to bother! (Here let a lesson be taught, Do not set books at naught