Athens Area High School - Athenian Yearbook (Athens, PA)

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They grow in the darkness, all hid in the night; They grow in the sunshine, revealed by the night Still they grow.” A sense of comfort and cheerfulness is gained by the remembrance of the impression that some flowers have given, although at the time one may not realize what effect such a view has. Wordsworth says, after seeing a host of golden daffodils”: “I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me hath brought. For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood. They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills And dances with the daffodils.” Bryant has drawn a beautiful likeness between the fringed gentian and the closing years of his own life. This flower, coming so late and seeming to be alone, does not lose heart, but rather looks up to the heavens hopefully. He says: “I would that thus, when I shall see The hour of death draw near to me. Hope, blossoming within my heart. May look to heaven as I depart.” LUCILLE STEVENS. ’18. Ki 3 VALUE OF HIGH SC HOOL PLAYS Since 1909 fifteen plays have been given by high school students. Nearly all of these were classics and directly connected with the English course. The plays were: The Merchant of Venice. Silas Marner. Vicar of Wakefield. The Princess. She Stoops to Conquer, Life of Lincoln. Old Tioga Point. Antigone, Pygmalion and Galatea. As You Like It. The Taming of the Shrew. Hiawatha, Cranford. The Rivals, and a musical comedy. The Captain of Plymouth. The public have proved by their patronage that they are glad of the opportunity to see the presentation of these plays. The money received from them has always been used for a good purpose, as in the instance of the play given in 1917. The sum of fifty dollars received from this was given over to the Alumni Association to be used as they see fit. It is very essential to give plays of high character. Foremost of all is the fact that it raises the standard of the school. The student gains a confidence in himself which is to him a never-ending benefit. It also furnishes a splendid opportunity to present these plays before the students with an effect that could not have been gained by reading them. Take as an example Portia in The Merchant of Venice. After seeing the character in a play, it becomes so much more real that it arouses interest when the play is read and it does not seem to be a dry. hard thing to interpret. as oftentimes something of that sort does seem to the student. The class as a whole derive great benefit from the successful presentation of such plays, but it is also of inestimable value to the high school as a whole. It increases high school spirit and promotes pride in the school. LILLIAN TAYLOR. ’18. £3 THE TAMING OP THE SHREW CAST OF CHARACTERS Baptista ......................................... Leland Grenell, Marjorie Carner Petruchio ......................................... Wesley Vannoy. Lucile Prince Hortensio..........................................Joseph Francke. Josephine Gori Pe( ro ............................................................ Maxine Salsman Biondello ........................................................ Katherine Lynch Gremio............................................. Mildred Stevens, Lillian Burns Walter ..................................................................... Lillian Taylor Nathaniel ........................................................... Myra Tomkins Grumlo ......................................... Harold Leverton, Cathryn Flanagan Gregory........................................................ Evangeline Leighton 30

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CLASS POEM Today, when our schooldays are over, and duties are faithfully done. When the last of school's lessons are over, and that newer life is begun. We shall strive and work as we ought to at the task we can all best do. At that work which these past years of training have fitted us to pursue. From the start we must fight our own battles- all agree that the “fight’s to the strong”— We must look to no help save our own staunch will, though the battle rage furious and long. To the one, who faithful in all things, strikes hard at the thing in hand. All success is his for the taking, so up! the world’s yours to command! Then look back as we pause at the threshold, perhaps some at the gates of fame. To give, and give with all gladness, tribute due to Athens’ name; For to her one and all give credit for paving smoothly the way For the larger tasks we’ll accomplish in the future’s opening way. MARGUERITE NEWMAN, ’18. 15} ta ta FLOWERS IN POETRY All phases of nature have been touched upon in poetry, but poets seem to delight most in the beauty and significance of flowers. Henry Timrod in his Flower Life says: “I love the world of flowers. Less for their beauty of a day, Than for the tender things they say.” Following the thought of these lines let us notice how almost human the common flowers seem to be. As modest but sincere people cannot help but win the affections of the crowd, so the everyday common flower appeals to the passerby. Wordsworth has caught this conception from the snowdrop. “Lone flower hemmed in with snows and white as they But hardier far, once more I see thee bend Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend. Like an unbidden guest.” What farmer ever laments the fate of a flower which he has turned down with the plough out in the field? Yet Robert Burns has written a beautiful poem. To the Mountain Daisy, based upon just such a simple every day incident. Have we ever thought of this flower as Burns must have when he said? “Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flow’r. Thou’s met me in an evil hour; For I maun crush among the stour Thy slender stem; To spare thee now is past my pow’r. Thou bonnie gem.” I think there is hardly a person who doesn’t like The Trailing Arbutus, for we enjoy a poem written about something we love. In The Trailing Arbutus Whittier says: “The trailing spring flower tinted like a shell Amid dry leaves and mosses at my feet. As pausing o’er the lonely flower. I bent. I thought of lives thus lonely, clogged and pent Which yet find room. Through care and cumber, coldness and decay, To lend a sweetness to the ungenial day And make the sad earth happier for their bloom.” What can be said of the lily, a flower with so much meaning to us? Some unknown author has given us a lesson through these pure white flowers: “Yes, leave it all with Him; The lilies all do. And they grow; They grow in the rain. They grow in the dew— Yes, they grow; 29

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Gabriel ...................... .................................. Lucile Stevens Katharine .......................................... Donna Mills, Laura Campbell Bianca.............................................. Helen Luckey, Laura Seidell Curtis ...................................................... Evangeline Francke Tailor .......................................................... Honora Coveney Cook......................................................... Marguerite Newman Court Ladies—Sibyl Macafee, Elinor Curtiss. Margaret Sabin, Anna Catlin. Mildred Gerould, Beatrice Rothloff. Lillian Gerould. SYNOPSIS OF THE TAMING OF THE SHREW Baptista Minola, a gentleman of Padua, was the father of two daughters. Katharine and Bianca. Because of her fiery temper and scolding tongue the elder was known as Katharine the Shrew. It was thought that no man would ever venture to marry her, but Bianca had many suitors, whose wooing was discouraged by Baptista, who vowed that until Katharine was married no one should court Bianca. In the meantime Bianca was to pursue her books and music. There was one man however, Petruchio. who came to Padua resolved to marry Katharine and rid her of her temper. First he sought out Baptisa and asked permission to court his “sweet-tempered” daughter Katharine. Baptista consented and then Petruchio adopted a unique mode of courtship. Whatever she did or said, he would comment upon it as though she had spoken or done the very opposite. After a brief but spirited wooing, Petruchio announced that Katharine had consented to marry him. The wedding day was decided upon and at the appointed hour the guests assembled. But Petruchio did not appear, and when he did come, he came in anything but wedding attire. Throughout the ceremony he did everything which he thought might vex Katharine, not even allowing her to attend the marriage feast, but instead mounted her upon a miserable horse and they set out on the journey to the home Petruchio had prepared. When they arrived at the house, there was no welcome and Katharine was not allowed to eat or sleep. After Petruchio thought he had sufficiently tamed her, they returned to her father’s house. Here they met Hortensio, who in disguise as her teacher, had finally won Bianca, even though there had been a strong rivalry between him and Gremio. Katharine had become very docile and Petruchio now endeavored in every way possible to have her display her changed nature. Once more Katharine became famous in Padua, not as Katharine the Shrew, but as Katharine the most obedient and duteous wife in Padua. JOSEPHINE V. GORI, ’18. 1 AMERICA CALLS America calls us to defend her name. Her freedom and honor from all disdain. Her cause is Democracy. Justice and Right, And it is for that she calls us to fight. Should we go? Our principles, policies, lives are at stake. Words no longer a safe nation make. It’s now we must act; it’s now we must fight; It’s now we must save this great land by our might. Should we wait? Duty speaks plainly, “Do your best. Lest your country forever from you be wrest.” If right loses! If Democracy fails! How then shall we answer to God who calls? Can we stay? WESLEY VANNOY, ’18. TWO CHAPS One chap was attired in the latest regalia. Blossoming bright as a lily or dahlia. Wearing the dizziest kind of cravats. Swell from his derby clear down to his spats. Nothing was wrong in the way that he dressed; All his garb was the newest and best. He could win a girl’s praise And mnk : her heart throb. He could hold a girl’s gaze But not a man’s job. The other was not a remarkable dresser; He looked at first glance like a good old professor; His elbows were shiny, his collar old style. And he wore a plain derby instead of a tile. In the same grey sack suit, he appeared every (lay. With any old necktie, tied any old way. Though lightly he spurned All fancy veneer, ’Tis said that he earned Twenty thousand a year. ALGIE WINTERS, ’19. 31