Barstow School - Weathercock Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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THE YEAR Q, To catch the spirit of this ambrosial time. to re-create the characters who have helped create us.-for who among us has not absorbed something of Shakespeare?-this is a task to stagger weakness, to expose mediocrity, but to inspire greatness. The greater the subject, the greater the man whomasters it. We could not bear to have our Shakespeare desecrated by a mean spirit: but a poet, and a poet only. may idealize a poet. lf Noyes had written a ditty to a dragon fly or. mayhap. i'An Ode to His Mistress's Eyebrow. he would have been a pleasing versifier only. But instead he wrote Tales of the lvlermaid Tavernlu. bold. unabashed by the magnitude and scope of his undertaking. And his own song deserves his own praise of Shakespeares UVenus and Adonis. A round. sound. full-blown piece of thorough work. On a great canvas, colored like one l saw ln ltaly, by one-Titian! None of the toys Of artistry your lank-haired losels turn. Your Phyllida-l-uve-lies-bleedingA-Kiss-me-Quicks. Your fluttering sighs and lVIark-how-I-break-my-beats, Begotten like this. whenever and how you list. Your Moths of verse that shrivel in every taperi But a sound piece of craftsmanship to last Until the stars are out lf a storm should shake The Tower of London down, Will's house would stand. AMARETTE ROOT. IQI4, The Year bookshelves and boxes, until, by breakfast time. we had amassed quite a hoard of dog-eared. ink-bespattered books. We swallowed our breakfasts in a rush. Then on with our burdens, until we reached the long-loved yellow building, waiting with wide open doors to welcome us. From within there came a buzz of many voices. We climbed the stairs with. as we fancied, an air of resignation1 the shining gilt letters of the NVeathercock E got up early that crisp, October morning and looked through library brought a tinge of sadness, as we thought. of the dear old seniors who had worked so hard for them. But the gloom was soon dispersed. for even the most persecuted martyr could not remain depressed while being slapped on the back. held up for inspection, dragged up. down, and around to be introduced to new girls, new teachers, new desks. new rooms, new anything. The old things we greeted with delight. because they were old, and we knew their every scratch and splinter. the new things we hailed with equal joy. because, while the newness lasted, they would add the

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8 THE Wi3A'l'Hi2R-eoczk t succeeding years have out dissolving the mist of romance and sentimen wrapped about them, His Rare Ben is not a thing of beauty with that great pocked face and bull-dog jaws. But Noyes redeems him. A joke were meat and drink to jolly Ben. Were he not eoneoeting some elaborate forgery for Bama. he was swaggering and bragging like a play actor to frighten Dekker, And he could be a warm, strong friend, too. When his companions were in Newgate while he was free, He gripped his eudgel if li if and surged along Chcapside Snorting with wrath, and rolled into the gaol. To share the punishment. But Noyes's greatest triumph is his handling of Will Shakespeare. Think of attempting to paint the sun. and finding onthe canvas. not a star or a moon nor a semblance of the sun, but the very sun itself. 'Tis the elfln Shakespeare that Noyes shows, the Shakespeare that steals the fairy deer for his sweet Anne, Shakespeare, the superman, who understood all things, and because he understood, forgave all things. Better than any statue of Shakespeare could be. is Noyess quiet portrait: Like some rare old picture. in a dream Recalled-quietly listening, laughing, watching. Pale on that black oakcn wainseot floated One bearded oval face. young. with deep eyes. Whom Raleigh hailed as 'Will'! And better than any tribute is that which he puts into the mouth of Greene who, in his jealously, had cried, Trust them notg there is an upstart crow Beautifled with our feathers. - and who. repentant, had generously yieldedg Will, l knew it all the while! And you know it-and you smile! My quill was but a jackdaw's feather, While the quill that Ben. there wields, Fluttered down thro' azure fields. From an eagle in the sun: And yours, Will, yours, no earth-borne thing, A plume of rainbow-tinctured grain. Dropt out of an angels wing. Only a jackdaws feather mine. And mine ran ink. and B-en's ran wine. And yours the pure Pierian streams.

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,O THE XVliA'liI-USR-KIOCK Flavor of novelty to the daily routine of the new year. lhis. as some may have all-Cady gugggcd, was the first day of school. that sensational, chaotic. topsy-turvy day, when periods pass by all unrung. and rules are not yet born. But after these first few days, when thc shine was in danger of being a bit dulled, and the frost was beginning to bite the trees. came the call to arms. Yes, those were really hockey sticks in the gym! Be sure to put your names on them and look out for your s!1,ins. ' And the non-com- batants. if they would not play, had the exquisite pleasure each morning of watching their friends limp stifny into the Academic room, Having tried the mcttle of the brave newcomers by these knocks and blows, we resolved to test the others by another method. A cross- country run and dinner at the Winn farm was our decision. and the remark- able fortitude of this band in eating strawberry ice-cream covered with maple syrup. jelly, and salt, has been handed down as a vivid part of the school history. And through all this we had been getting acquainted. Now we were calling everyone by her first name, there were no longer any new girls, school was very much in danger of becoming ordinary routine. But the fates never have apportioned that lot to our school. Some elf had whispered in the ear of the calendar-maker. and Halloween was marked with a red letter for us, Needless to say, we seized upon it with all its possibilities. classes organized and made their sole aim in life concealment of Someihing from other classesg we carried lumpy and mysterious bundles from home to school and from school home: pianos and voices could be heard drum- ming out old familiar tunes, muffied by closed doors. The faculty seemed to jump backwards into their teens. altho' they couldn't seem to cease being the arm of the law. But who shall disclose the mysteries of that magic night? Then came basket-ball, and along with it the old wails for bloomers, middies, shoes, pins. ties and lost keys. Many and strange were the costumes that were wont to appear on our dusty oval,-marvelous head-dresses. and bachelor shoes, as one discouraged player dubbed her vari-colored footwear. And oh! the excitement of the nrst real game of the year. and the glorified triumph of the conquering sophomores, and that still more glorious victory, when, after weeks of Miss Dunlaps training. we for the first time vanquished an out-of-town school. and found that dread. mys- terious band from Miss Wests School in the end neither giants nor titans, but only girls like unto ourselves. Soon afterwards came a dawn when small. white envelopes were thrust into the hands of a favored few,-those well-known messengers, bringing joy, and fear. and surprise. For that body known as The Pre- tenders had been watching and choosing, Then began the custom of