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

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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

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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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only for the unusual theme of the story but also as a masterpiece of fictional art. Galsworthy's nomination to the Order of Merit in succession to Thomas Hardy in 1929 gave authoritative recognition of his supremacy among the men of letters of our times. Almost inseparably linked with Galsworthy is Arnold Bennett. It was only after years of apprenticeship that Bennett emerged, a novelist of distinction. As a background for his works, he immortalized the Five Towns in which he lived, and proceded to recount the lives of the inhabitants with an unsparing realism which reminds one of the realists of France. The monotony of such an environment is artistically relieved by the representation of characters of real worth. Bennett combines both realism and romance in a most unusual and lifelike man' ner. The Old Wives' Tales published in 1908 is an example of this. By tracing the careers of two sisters of different aspirations and temperament, he succeeds in his purpose. In the Clayhanger trilogy he again associates two characters of opposite tendencies, the faithful realist, Edwin, and the romanticist, Hilda. Bennett, however, attained the peak of success when he wrote Buried Alive, a skit that he has never excelled. This is a story of the almost supernatural experf ience of a man surviving himself, attending his own funeral and enjoying his post' humous fame. His strange experience, nevertheless, is brought on by the most natural means and does not detract from the author's realisitc structure. Now, quite naturally, we come to Miss Sheila KayefSmith who owes much to the example of Galsworthy and Bennett, in their interpretation of character by all possible means. In the main, Miss Smith has confined herself to the realms of Sussexg indeed, she is the spokesman of those simple, hardfworking folk whose lives are the embodif ment of simplicity and nobility. It was she who first focused the attention of the outside world on Sussex, on those who live close to the soil and are a part of it. Miss Smith's ability to discern beauty in the rudest of Nature's creations, has elevated her above the usual position of novelist. Her books constitute a world of reality and give us a sketch of true romance-the rugged romance of the soil. The most significant of her works are The Tramping Methodist, Starbrace, Green Apple Harvest and Sussex Gorge. The latter, an epic of the land, published in 1916, was readily granted the place of honor among the novels of its time. In the language of realism, itis the power of a tiny plot of earth over the ceaseless strivings of one man. Despite her genius for portraying persons and scenes as they really are, Sheila KayefSmith did not produce her greatest novel until 1922. Joanna Godden' is a masterpiece of literary creation and portrayal. No character in art or literature could ever equal this one. Traits of both weakness and steadfastness are combined in the heroine. It is the tale of a girl who, in behalf of her sister's interests, attempts to banish true love from her heart only to find that love cannot be swerved by or' dinary mortals. Miss Smith has indeed well deserved the diadem of honor that is hers, for her works, like those of Galsworthy and Hardy, have been most significant in ushering in this new reign in literature-the reign of realism. MARY A. OQCONNOR One Hundred Thirty seven