Bucknell University - L Agenda Yearbook (Lewisburg, PA)

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the dav before Christmas of her ca e. And his back ached for a week after, so heavy was the tablet. But he loved. And a while later, he found a lo ' e note written in a daintily chiselled hand in front of his ca ' e. She had answered him. And when he had read what she had written, he could do nothing but write her another poem on another tablet. And this exchange of modest lo ' e notes went on for many moons, until he felt his back would break. And he wondered whether it would always be that as love grows stronger, stam- ina grows weaker. And it was at the time when he was about to decide which was more important, that he received a billet-doux from her which suggested that her body too was growing tired. She sug- gested that they write their poems upon trees in the forest. And they took turns writing each day, emblazoning the entire forest with their love, until one day they met by chance. Ab was writing on one side of an enormous sassafras tree, and as he wrote an especialK- long line, circling around the tree, he disco ' ered her, writing on the other side of the same sassafras tree. And their words came to- gether . . . The next day her father arrived at Ab ' s cave, and behind him was a long line of his tribesmen, each carrying one of Ab ' s love letters. And her father demanded that the ' be married. So love came to Ab. i ■ J Dr . Harry R Garvin Dr . Robert R. Gross Dr. P. Burwe I Rogers Mr. Frank A. HofFman SIGMA TAU DELTA, National Professional English Honorary 17

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Dr. Harry W. Rubbrns Dr. Mildred A. Martin Miss M. Phyllis Smith S t Lo ' e came to Ab at a reptile roast. It was at this ;innual celebration, when most of the neighbor- ing tribes assembled to celebrate the end of the rainy season, that the first signs of lo e twisted his stomach. His tribe was seated on one side of the roaring fire, and the other tribes were gathered around. And when Ab raised his head, the better to chew, he saw her face thr ough the flames. And he could swallow no more, so strons was his lo e for her. All niyht long he sat and stared at her, and she stared at him; and a few times he thought she even v inked at him— or was that just the flickering of the fire? Before the feast was over, he managed to find out her name, and the erv sound of it made his blood pulsate in anipcsts and iambs. And c erv corpuscle in his bodv tripped the light trochaic. And he felt he had to tell her of his lo e, but he was too bashful. So he worked for three whole days chis- elling his thoughts on a tablet. And when it was done, he arose early one morning before anyone was awake, and went to her illage, carrving the tablet on his back, and stood it up in the doorway 16

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• I aaksMaas «j ; :a!Hyi ' ?,!ar ' i w r;M i g !g r %ama and S ieec i One dav in early spring when Ab and his wife were walking along the flowerv path on top of the cliff, and the birds were singing and the brachiopods were humming quietlv, Ab felt so moved to joy that he sat down on a high rock and began to speak to himself about the wonders of life. And as he spoke, and his voice gained strength and new words came to him, his voice grew louder and richer, and his arms made great sweeping gestures almost of their own accord. And the other passers-by on the cliff road gathered around to watch this strange spectacle, but Ab was glad of their presence. As the crowd grew larger, the voice of Ab swelled and became even more eloquent, even to waxing lyri- cal in its intonations. But the wife of Ab, who was watching and listening in the shadow of the rock, felt her face grow red with shame, and she begged Ab to come down from the rock. Ab was sorrowful, but to please his wife he prepared to lca e his little platform. As he stepped down, the crowd of people beat their hands one against the other, making a loud but altogether pleasant sound. And Ab stepped up upon his platform once again, and spoke more grandly than ever. Dr. C. Willard Smith Mr. Harvey M. Powers, Jr. Dr. Kenneth W. Hooker Dr. Frank W. Merritt 18 THETA ALPHA PHI, National Dramatic Fraternity ffiUMUiHU ' Ui