Archbishop Hughes Memorial High School - Spires Yearbook (New York, NY)

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American existence. Remarkable, indeed, is his boldness and challenging attitude toward adults contrasted with his tenderness towards children. In Winter Milk he shows this sympathy toward the young when he says of his own daughter: There are dreams in your eyes, Helga, Tall reaches of wind sweep the clear blue. The winter is young yet, so young. Only a little cupful of winter has touched your lips. Though an advocate of free verse, he employs all the beauty of words, of which he is master. Describing Chicago, he says of her: Hog Butcher for the world, Tool makers, Stackers of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler, Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders. An excellent example of his power to summon beautiful words to express his emotions is given in such lines as these: In the loam we sleep, In the cool, moist loam, To the lull of years that pass, And the break of stars. From the loam, then, The soft warm loam We riseg To shape of rose leaf, Of face and shoulder, We stand, then. To a whiff of life Lifted to the silver of the sun Over and out of the loam A day. One of Sandburg's chief traits is his ability to combine the native and local in him which evolves poems like Chicago with the universal, which helps him to respond to poetical inspirations. It was in 1920 that his Smoke and Steel was awarded the Poetry Society Prize. Since we can now boast of so profuse and varied a selection of literati, with their beauty of thought, force of expression, sterling honesty of verse and realism, it would seem that the standard of literature has been raised and its banner un' furled to float above a world which seeks true poetry, mighty drama and choice prose. MARY OlDONNELL. One Hundred Thirty fin

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his writings, he seeks to convey the vanity and futility of human life and pictures baffled humanity stumbling, wending its vain way to destruction. In a humorous mood he tells how Miniver Cheevy yearned for the romantic past: Miniver cursed the commonplace And eyed a khaki suit with loathing, He missed the medieval grace Of iron clothing. Robinsons poems are often difficult to comprehend, yet they are replete with beauty beyond the attainment of almost any living poet. The number of characters he has created essentially sets him apart from his rivals, but his chief characteristic rests in his combination of profundity and preciseness. Among his best works are The Master, Ridhard Cory and Ben Jonson Entertains a Man from Stratfordf' In 1921, he received the Pulitzer Prize of one thousand dollars for his Collected Poems which was regarded as the book of the most enduring value to American literature published during that year, and with this award, he gained recognition as a great American poet. Francis Carlin, termed The New Floor-Walker Poet Genius is so called because he lives two distinct lives-one as a poet, the other as a floor superintendent in R. H. Macy's store. Though born in America, he has a deep affection for Ireland and a passion for beauty which, when they blend, produce most harmonious music. The Provinces is an excellent illustration: O God, that I May arise with the Gael To the song in the sky Over Inisfail! Ulster, your dark Mold for meg Munster, a lark Hold for me! Connaght, a caoine, Croon for meg Leinster, a mean Stone for me! O God, that I May arise with the Gael To the song in the sky Over Inisfail! Another exemplar of the worth of modern literature is Carl Sandburg. It was among the factories and railroads of the Middle West that this son of a Swedish immigrant found themes for his poetry, thus proving himself a poet of the new order of life in the United States. As such he is the voice of the tumultuous elements in One Hundred Thinyffour

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REALISM Throughout the history of literature there has never been a more marked ten' dency toward a democratic style than at the present. The influence of popular educaf tion has led to a striking and fundamental change in contemporary literature which distinguishes it from the historical type. The modern trend shows diversification. The reading public is now too large to interest itself in one dominant phase, and so there has developed a literary movef ment in the last decade of the nineteenth century which has catered to the wishes of the populace and failed to display any decisive direction. However, just as roman' ticism characterized the early nineteenth century and classicism the early eighteenth, so now in the present confusion of literature there may be discerned one tendency which, if developed, may prove to be the distinguishing impulse of the twentieth century. This tendency is realism. The interest of the vast reading public in realities, facts, has determined this new trend. Whereas formerly a man of letters achieved success by leaving something so written to aftertimes that they should not willingly let it die QMiltonj-today, the greatness of a writer depends upon his ability to retain the attention of the masses for a few years instead of a fit audience though few for generations. Accordingly, the introduction of realism in contemporary writ' ings has broken down the stately conventions of literary minds of the past. The modern novel, for instance, mirrors life more intimately than ever before. It symbolizes realities without camouflage. In modern English literature the term suggests without dispute Galsworthy, Arnold Bennett and Sheila KayefSmith. Galsworthy is a realist in every sense of the word. A humanitarian by temper' ament and a lawyer by training, all his work is done with a definite social purpose in View of which his skill and technique serve as a means. His satire is unconcealed as, also is his sympathy. Class distinction, he recognizes as the cardinal fact in society. Hence his novels deal chiefly with class opposition. He is, however, even more successful than others in preventing the didactic element in his novel from over- powering its quality. Every grouping of life and character has its inherent moral, he says, and according to his own views, it is the artist's business 'iso to pose the group as to bring the moral poignantly to the light of day. Galsworthy was slow in reaching the heights of artisitc greatness and the first recognition of his genius did not come till 1906, at the publication of The Man of Property which really was the Erst of a series of novels, that, taken together, com' pose a unique volume The Forsyte Saga proper, beginning with The Man of Property and ending with To Let, traces the varying fortunes of the Forsytes from 1886 to 1920. The later series beginning with The White Monkey begins its action in 1922 and continues the tale of the younger generation up to the death of Soames Forsyte in 1926. This complete set may now be found under the title, A Modern Comedy. It only remains to be seen that so skilled a novelist cannot help but give evidence of that adeptness in his writings, and indeed, in recognition of his abilities, it seems more than probable that generations to come will accept The Forsyte Saga not On Hundred Thirtyfsix