Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ROBIN HOOD. 7 j shall l e that most perfect thing which ■ God has created—a true, pure, strong 1 woman, sent into this world to be a helper and companion. Nor in so being shall £ she lose in physical power what she has t gained in mental strength, for, although I the predominance of physical matter may I be wanting, she will possess that equipoise iof mind which is needed to make lip a well-balanced nature, and her delicacy will I be the symbol of her refinement. I Ah ! did a spirit enter into that artist’s |f heart? Did a small voice whisper in his rear? or was the gift of foresight given to V him that he could thus penetrate that veil (which hangs between the present and future to see the woman whose coming he heralds? Sweet maiden, I look in your fair feat- ures and I read a prophecy. I see a promise of good without end. I see a new race of women, grand in their union of mental strength with feminine graces, and I see a world made brighter, better by their presence in it. He thou, O maiden fair! the dawn of a new womanhood, and as that dawn ripens into day, may the world be able to say of thy descendant that she is “A perfect woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort and command.” (SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ROBIN H(X)I), RELATED IN “ IVANHOE.” MARGARET NICHOLS, ’90. NO character in “ I van hoe ” excites more interest than the mysterious yeoman who, in his coat of Lincoln green, with his bow at his side and his arrows in his belt, attends the Tournament of Prince John. There, by his outspoken opinions, he incurs the disfavor of that Prince, whochal- ! lenges him to contend, on the following day, in the feats of archery. He accepts the challenge, and shoots an arrow from his bow with such skill as to split, exactly in the middle, a thin, straight willow wand. Great was the amazement of those who witnessed the shot; for never before had they beheld such skillful archery. This skillful archer was Robin Hood, or better known in “Ivanhoe” as “ Locks- ley.” In the next scene it is night time. The swineherd, now I van hoe's faithful attend- ant, is travelling through a dark, deep ravine, on both sides of which are high banks, overgrown with dwarf trees and bushes. Suddenly, from the depths of the thicket, four men spring out and seize poor Gurth and conduct him to their cap- tain, who proves to be Locksley, the win- ner of the golden horn at the Tournament. The captain counts the swineherd’s money, and, finding that there is no more than enough to purchase his freedom, returns it to its owner; for of Robin Hood it may truly be said, that he was “of all theeves the most gentle theefe.” But before Gurth is dismissed he must contend in fair fight with the sturdy miller of the robber gang. Fiercely they fight, and well. But Gurth gives such powerful blows with his club that the miller is glad to yield, and Gurth is escorted from the woods, charged to tell no one of his nightly adventure. It is said that Robin Hood was religious. And, from Sir Walter Scott’s account, a jolly Father Confessor he had for his band. Friar Tuck, or better known as the “Jolly Hermit,” inhabited a little hut in a lonely part of Sherwood forest. He was more fond of feasting than fasting, and nothing

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6 “THE VIKING'S DAUGHTER.” Prize Essay, 1889. “THE VIKING’S DAUGHTER.” GENEVIEVE S. GRORK, 89. ART is most perfect, and is best accom- plishing its mission when it brings the world to a higher sense of its shortcomings, by revealing to it the heights to which it might attain. Art is not art if it is of no benefit to the world, and happy may that worker be who has wrought that which will lift his fellow-creatures up to higher things. This crown of happiness may justly be conferred upon Mr. F. S. Church, for in his painting, “The Viking’s Daughter,’» and indeed in all his better works, he has truly tried to create a standard higher than any which we now possess. He has .shown to us what in these degenerate days we most need—a pure, a perfect woman. He has revealed the influence which lies in the small palm of a woman’s hand. Even the beasts and birds of the air are subservient to her, and, like the omnipotent love, her influence extends to every living creature. The first impression of the “Viking’s Daughter ” is of the mere beauty of the work. The old sea-king’s child stands on the bleak sea-coast, enveloped in her pale- green drapery. Back on the breeze floats her wind-blown hair, and about her head is clustered a snow-white, billowy, shift- ing mass of sea-gulls, white as the foam of their native seas. From the canvas the spirit of the North is breathed forth. The cold, rushing wind, with its icy, sting- ing particles, blows full in the face: the loud, piercing screech of the sea-gulls, and the confused flutter of their wings fall upon the ear, while, out from all, the sweet, delicate face of this child of the North gleams distinctly forth. Mr. Church has called her a viking daughter, but never such a creature] this has been praised in the song of t: old northern scald; never such a face at form as these have been seen in tho lands of ice and snow, and hence, why she a viking’s daughter? Mr. Church is eminently an Americ artist, for the face of his picture is a pun American ideal. The woman he has po trayed is not the soft, feminine, luxtfl loving woman of the South, nor yet isfi the strong, hardy type of the Germa: but she is thoroughly American, a: through her veins is coursing the blood her old ancestors, the far-away Norseme She feels their spirit moving within lie The sea-gulls are whispering it to ht “Maiden fair, take our gifts,” they! “far across the northern seas have 1 brought them to you. The foam of t sea breathed them to us, the icy mod tains whispered them to us, and deep your heart receive the old independen the sturdy rectitude and the brave coura for which your fathers were famed in i old sagas of the North.” This,. then, is why she is a vikin daughter. She is the child of to-di with the impulses of many years gone! In his painting Mr. Church has tried typify a woman who, while still remain! a woman, will by the force of intelk and by the balance of her powers becxx a factor in the world’s greatness. S shall not be the clinging, effeminate ores ure of the Middle Ages, standing on lower level looking up to man, to wh she is considered a mere accessory; s shall she lose her womanly traits a enter into the man’s province, but si

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WILLIAM, A CHARACTER SKETCH. 8 did he enjoy more than good wine and venison from the Royal deer. When, we meet “ Brave Robin Hood,” again, he is knocking loudly at the door of this worthy friar’s cell. The “Jolly Hermit ” admits his captain, who summons him to the assistance of the captured party of Ivanhoe. Quickly the friar is trans- formed from a monk to a green-coated woodsman. When the jester remonstrated with the Clerk for transforming himself from a “ Holy Hermit ” to a sinful forester, the Jolly Hermit replies, “ I will but con- fess the sins of my green cloak to my grey- friar’s frock, and it will be well again.” Next in the bloody assault of the castle, foremost among the brave Englishmen moves a little band of yeomen, clad in Lincoln green, doing brave work to aid the weak and oppressed. Fast fly the arrows from the long bows of the woods- men, until the castle walls are stripped of defenders. After their weary siege of the day be- fore, we find the merry woodsmen resting from their labors beneath their trysting tree in Hart-hill Walk, where they have collected their rich spoils from the castle. So much law and order prevailed among this outlawed band that not one of them would have dared touch a part of the booty until their captain had divided it, giving to each one his share according to his rank. Their trysting-tree was an aged oak that stood in the midst of the forest. Be- neath the tree the outlaws had built i throne of the green turf, on which the chief was seated at all their myste riots midnight meetings. Robin Hood’s heart was kind and sy®. pathetic, for when the daughter of Isaat of York is lost he aids the distracted fathe in his search for the beautiful Rebecc . The last scene of all best shows, I think the character of the brave outlawed yec man. After the skirmish with the ban; of men sent by Prince John to kill h: brother, the King, the “Black Knight acknowledges himself to be Richard c England. Almost as soon as the name i spoken, the yeomen, following their chief: example, kneel at the feet of King Rid ard, tender him their allegiance, and be, his pardon for their wild deeds. Rob: Hood, although “ king of the forests,” w. willing to kneel at the feet of his tit appointed monarch, and, without a mt mur, receive from his hands the punis ment for his wild deeds. King Rich nobly said : “ King of Outlaws and Priix of Good Fellows! No deed of thine dee in our absence shall ever be rememl en against thee.” A study of this brave outlaw’s charact reveals to us certain traits and noble qui ties that made his name long remember? and honored in England. A true Englk man, truly he answered, when he saii “I am the friend of my country and my country’s friends.” WILLIAM. (A Character Sketch.) NATHAN KUSSY, ’9O. TILLIAM was my chosen companion, my intimate friend, the child of my care. He was very gentle when not aroused, at times almost lamb- like in his disposition. But I grieve say that William was not admired for : good looks. It did hurt me to hear P rick O’Flynn remark, “ Oi don’t want