Vanderbilt University - Commodore Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

Page 29 text:

 To wanderer’s eye Him next appear The sccih'S of nation's rise and tall; Vnd dol'rous accents greet his ear, Next forty pages, that is all.’’ He leaves behind that classic soil. Laments no more o’er man's decay. Nor yet may find surcease of toil. O’er tangled Oreek roots lies his way. Thence winds his course mid lonely glades. And chilling fears come o'er him: To haunt his road appear the shades Of Latin authors, dark and grim. At length a vale mini s into view. With horrors tilled and darkness dire, K’en phantoms here dare not pursue. And in their fear forgot their ire There lahyrinthian mazes wind. Of tangents, curves and ellipses; Instructing cure pervades the mind. And light of other joy eclipses. Kmerging slow, lie sees his goal. The end of all his trials sore : Its sunshine warms his very soul. That longed-for height of Sophomore.

Page 28 text:

20 Freshman Class (?oem. O -w' ( hero's deeds of olden tinu . I Nor tale el love would We port my, V v Hut ours (lie task, in rust it rlmne, To frame the Freshman's lowly lay. Thy aid, great muse, wilt thou bestow On him who now invokes thy name. And bill, in niagie numbers, How The Freshman’s mighty deoils of lame? Tell what good or ill hath been ‘Their lot all through this trying year; Recall to memory once again Haeh jov or care, each hope or fear. They came with fondest hopes imbued. nd visions bright before them shone Of Howei v paths with honors strewed, And glorious laurels to be won. How soon. alas, enchanting spell. You tied like a beautiful dream. Illusion fond, foiv’er farewell. In sooth, ‘’things are not what they seem. Those paths no velvet sward has lined. Nor Flora’s gifts appeared to grace. A ml-they who once for honors pined Now deem it but an idle chase. Yet it hath led by murm’ring Hrooke’s. And strange it seems we should complain : Hut w hat is fair in outward looks f life oft proves the bitter Hain.

Page 30 text:

 1%§ - OFFICERS. ( W. Soarkitt...........................................President. II. I). Ruiim, , ... ,, . . ................................I 'ice President . 1. II. M krone, .Ik , ' A. II. ii.son.........................................Secretary. K. II. ( ROCKETT.........................................Treasurer. Jeff McCarx..............................................Poet. i:o. Mimms,..............................................Historian. SOPHOMORE CLASS HISTORY. f I was inv pleasure, a few weeks ago, to find in a neglected alcove of the 'J Library. the histories of all the classes that have existed since the establish- ment of the I niversitv. They are all of the same spirit, written under the inspiration of the same sorrowful muse; thev tell of the disciple of learning crouching beneath the strokes of his master, or of the great biennial battles be- tween students and the Faculty. It is with no slight degree of pleasure that I can write the history of a class whose career has been far otherwise—a class that has broken awav from the superstition and slavery of the past, and entered into the sunlight of intellectual freedom and development. The members of the present Sophomore class are very precocious, the average age being about fifteen. (It was a few years ago when I investigated the matter.) They have all the mental alertness common to youthful minds, with the addition that they have a great deal more than is usually allotted to human beings. An evidence of this fact is the brilliant record that they have made. The hardest lessons have been dismissed with a casual glance, and examinations have been