St Johns Ravenscourt School - Eagle Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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Ok tfouji %mk, Get Set, Go! The silence is broken by the sounding of a hundred feet as every runner bursts across the starting line. The course is three miles in length. It cuts across ploughed fields, up and down steep fields, through streams, bogs and marshes and sometimes along old roads. The mob of runners go into a sprint for about the first hundred yards. After this, the top runners fall into line, one behind the other with the lead man setting the pace. After the first mile there is a string of twenty runners spaced at unequal distances with a group of fifty away behind and the leader away ahead. As the runners come to the first obstacle, a barbed wire fence, many runners drop out because of cuts and gashes caused by been pushed on to the sharp barbs of fence, or been trampled on. The race goes on for a half mile across a plowed field. The pace of the runners slows down considerably. The soft, loose earth is ex- tremly difficult to move through. This is the real test and many of the runners drop out here. Those who cross the field find their feet, each five pounds heavier because of the mud caked on the bottom of their shoes. Out on to a hard flat stretch of pasture for two hundred yards, then down a step hill into a stream where many of the contestants finish the race, up the bank and along side it for a quarter of a mile more, back across the stream, up a slight ridge and over a fence on to an old trail. The race is almost over. Many of the runners have torn shorts and shirts. They are covered in mud, some are bleeding from cuts received while crossing fences. Soaked from the waist up and dripping with perspira¬ tion, runners press onward, many of them going on sheer determination alone. Their months of valuable training will pay off at last. Their hours of running, five miles a day, running through the parks, golf courses and along the river banks in their community. This is the time they can begin to appreciate their top physical condition. Half a mile from the finish line the pace of the race picks up again. The leader knows the end is near. He has got to hold his place. Behind him he can hear the dull pounding of feet. He has got to keep calm: he has got to remember not to panic and go to fast. Such a move might cost him the race. The last quarter mile is across another stream up on to a huge ridge, and three hundred yards across a flat stretch of ground to the finish line. As the runners come over the ridge, they break into a sprint for the finish line. This is it! The winner rushes into the shoot, gasping and pant¬ ing for air. He staggers over to the side lines to greet those whom he has beaten, with a hand shake. For the rest of the day most of the competitors will be able to do little else, but they all feel that the excitement and challenge of cross-country running is worth it. BOB DUNSTAN FORM IV UPPER ' Relujm - What it %e m to tfouth In the course of growing up, youth asks many questions and receives countless answers to them. It is a very confusing period of life because new ideas are constandy being introduced, and the old ones modified or discarded. This flux has reached its peak in the world of today. Every day, man increases his knowledge and tries to impart this to the younger generation. In this modern world with the emphasis on all things new,” how does something as old as the hills” stand up? Some form of religious ceremony has been with man as long as he has existed. It might have been the wor¬ ship of the moon, the sun or the stars, the earth, animals, or even another man. Man had to put his faith in something and choose whatever suited him best. He usually worshipped things he could not under¬ stand such as lightning or fire and gave the credit of these unknown phenomena to some mysterious creature or God. As time progressed, religion was adapted to take in explanation of everything around man. Life was just one big symbol. As before, religion was a vast source of information about the unknown and supernatural, but there were even more ideas about it. Instead of just governing the world around him, it was thought God could control man. This gave religion a new light. It offered the people security and freedom from their worries and desires. All was taken care of. If you put your faith in this God you would live a good life after death. In different areas of the globe, the great God was called by various names and worshipped in various ways. Each society worshipped the way they thought best, be it blood-sacrifice or prayer. Out of different and varied means of religions, other branches grew and matured and either lived or died out. In today’s world, youth is more demanding than it has ever been before, and it desires to know more about the subject into which it is putting its faith. Nowadays, in the highly commercialized world, it is common knowledge that you do not put your faith into something you do not and cannot understand. A lot of questions youth asks cannot be answered. Even the most learned theologists do not have all the answers. Yet while few advances are made in this field of theology, science has made great steps in the gain-

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land,” gave it an inhuman, primeval look.” . . . Over Prairie Trails , and to a lesser extent, Fruits of the Earth , reveal much of Frederic Phillip Grove. Says Malcolm Ross: Here, too, is the portrait of a man; over those lonely trails Grove, always in search of himself, for once found himself.” In Fruits of the Earth , Grove uses the omniscient author technique; therefore he can constantly insert opinions. Also, Grove may, at some points, be identified with Abe. Thus, both books tell much about their author. Over Prairie Trails says a great deal about Grove’s background, mostly from references the book makes. Also this: I have lived in southern countries, and I have travelled rather far for a single lifetime. The Southern Cross is no strange sight to my eyes. I have slept in the desert close to my horse, and I have walked on Lebanon. I have cruised on the seven seas and seen the white marvels of the ancient cities.” Grove was, to his account, a man of the world. DOUG MacKAY FORM V UPPER Emopti {me d JLitewuf Compmiofi bduam Olwa GoUinuil ' i Sk Stoopi to todfM, k Ifrrnikd (JilLujt, md k (Jim o{ Mokjceld Oliver Goldsmith was a writer who appealed to the mass of people because of his farcical comedy, his amusing anecdote and his heartwarming experiences. He wrote in a simple, straightforward style which few writers can duplicate. The Vicar of Wakefield , his major novel, She Stoops to Conquer, his major play, and The Deserted Village , his major poem, have many simi¬ larities with regard to form, content, style, and plot. In The Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith uses beauty of imagery, tenderness of feeling, delicacy and refinement of thought, and a matchless purity of style. These state¬ ments are illustrated by the poor Dr. Primrosewhen he is gathering around him the wrecks of his shattered family and he is endeavouring to rally them back to happiness: The next morning the sun arose with peculiar warmth for the season; where, while we sat, my youngest daughter at my request joined her voice to the concert on the trees about us. It was in the place my poor Oliver first met her seducer and every object served to recall her sadness. But that melancholy which is excited by objects of pleasure, or inspired by sounds of harmony, soothes the heart instead of corroding it”. . . . The Deserted Village is Goldsmith’s nostalgic recollection of his boyhood days. These melancholy r ecollections were awakened by his brothers death. The Deserted Village embodies Oliver’s recollection of his brother and it gives in an artless, but consummate way, romantically simple pictures of a happy rural com¬ munity from which the peasants are emigrating because of the encroachments of the new industrial order. It also gives sweet pictures of the chief characters such as the pastor, the old man, and the school master. This poem has a sympathetic social outlook towards the poor peasants, Goldsmith’s contrasts his brother’s quiet life in the village with his restless, vagrant career: Remote from the town he ran his godly race, Nor e’er had changed, nor wished to change his place.” She Stoops To Conquer is a full blooded farce comedy of an amusing incident. Unlike the domestic themes of the previous plays, She Stoops To Conquer was written to amuse the audience. This play attacks the humourless sentimentality of the previous plays with its ridiculous incidents, its sketchy characterization, its comic humour, its brisk action, and its naturally- spirited dialogue. The basic of the play is sound be¬ cause many young men of this time became dashing cavaliers before women of a lower class. This play has simplicity of character, plot, and theme. Goldsmith manipulates incidents well to keep the play moving quickly and realistically. He gives the characters fast-moving, interesting, and realistic dia¬ logue: The genteel thing is the genteel thing at any time.” Goldsmith builds the play up with a succession of incidents and he concludes the play by solving all the problems that arose from these incidents. . . . Each of these three pieces of writing has universal ap¬ peal. The universal appeal of The Deserted Village comes not from its ethical or political lesson, but from its sweet and tender flow of rhythm and its firm hold upon the ever-fresh common-places of human nature. The Deserted Village presents those qualities of sympa¬ thy and description which are truly Goldsmith’s. The universal appeal of She Stoops To Conquer comes from its absolute success at being a comical, amusing, and thoroughly-entertaining comedy of real people, real situations, and real times. The secret of The Vicar of Wakefield ’s universal popularity comes from its truth to nature. . . These three pieces of Oliver Goldsmith’s writing will remain forever as immortal pieces of litera¬ ture because of their universal appeal and the out¬ standing way in which they are written. PETER SHEEN FORM V UPPER

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ing of knowledge and youth turns towards it for the answers, with the result that the tremendous work of the Gospel is sometimes undermined. In the past century, science has gained so much knowledge that there is practically nothing a man can not learn about if he wants to. We know that someday in the far future, the earth and our solar system will be destroyed. We know how to and almost have created life synthetically. We have crossed the limits of our globe and have even journeyed into space. It is not surprising that many of the age-old philosophies have have been proven wrong. The conception about man’s soul has been shaken a little by very recent discoveries. It was thought at one time that a soul was what gov¬ erned a man’s character and habits. Today, this can be done electrically. In recent tests on living patients, a raving maniac was transformed into a docile, kind being, by a small electric current. With discoveries like these what can we expect? Religion is getting to play a smaller and smaller part in our everyday lives. How much does it mean for us? Do you go to Church enthusiastically every Sun¬ day? With all the knowledge man has at his summons today, he has little need for religion. It would be a cold heartless world however, that is concerned only with sure facts. In this respect, religion is a great boon to the community, but it must be modified or taught differ¬ ently to entice youth. JIM LAWSON FORM IV JjJu, m d $tdt( Soemtj The day had been hot but now as evening came it began to cool off. The sun was sinking slowly beyond the horizon and was displacing bright colours of light on the lake and in the distance one could see the odd lake trout splashing upon the water producing the rip¬ ples on the lake. The odd boat could be seen pulling into the dock after fishing or merely cruising around the lake. The trees were being clothed in a huge cloak of velvety darkness and the darkness overpowered the sunset, the first twinkling stars could be seen. Across the bay the odd porchlight from a cabin would shine gently on the lake, and one could hear people talking across the bay because it was so quiet. The nocturnal crea¬ tures had begun to go on their nightly prowls as I went in to slip on a light jacket. The moon was large this night and appeared as a God watching over his wonderful creation. The lake gently reflected the light from the moon and the stars and was like a large mirror. The trees by the edge of the lake seemed to droop over and cast their mysterious shadows upon it. The only sounds that were heard were the howls of the odd wolf and the hooting of the owls. The wind had begun to pick up as I went into my cabin and small waves were beginning to appear on this small but beautiful lake. The trees were beginning to shake against each other and the clouds started appear¬ ing. It was not long before it began to rain and the only thing that spoiled this vacation at the lake was the thought of having to go back to the rushing city life. BRIAN HARTWIG FORM III Darkness is descending o’er the earth! The foolishness and roughness of mens mirth And the quarrelling and greediness of men Is surely a sign of evil Is surely a sign of evil. What! has God his image, not got power? To destroy all mens love for hate For, is he above all men a tower? Or is the world ruled by fate? Or is the world ruled by fate? The earth has long been civilized, But yet do men not realize The hate, strife, and war amoung us That will eat and devour of us That will eat and devour of us. God is the supposed ruler of all But to me he seems so small. For if of man he is the creator He has also witheld mankind the hater He has also witheld mankind the hater. For if man is like a fold of sheep He seemingly does not want to sleep Intermidst the wonderful hate and war For he is the lover of blood and gore For he is the lover of blood and gore. But many do say of their belief in God Though few do think he is a fraud But I think in my own head That God has long been dead That God has long been dead. JOHN LAWRENCE FORM II UPPER