Emmerich Manual High School - Ivian Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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MINT) AND HAND. 21 remember Una and the Lion, for the reason that picture and story will be closely connected in my memory. The name Faery Queene suggested to my mind something purely fanciful, in which nymphs, naiads and gnomes held sway, gathered around some very beautiful fairy, who was queen by right of superior beauty. So [ was much surprised to find the poem an allegory, and especially sur- prised because the theme was so serious. I like the higher allegory. The concep- tion, it seems to me, is very beautiful, both in spirit and form of expression. I think the poem as poetry, alone, has a value much higher than that of a good school exercise, as I have heard it called. Spenser shows that same poet ' s observation, that same love of nature which we found in Chaucer, and some of his epithets, espe- cially those which add color to a picture, remind me of Sir Walter Scott ' s Lady of the Lake. Occasionally he drops into a quaint mode of expression which sounds much like Chaucer. The canto which left the strongest im- pression with me was the one in which Spenser describes Duessa ' s descent into Hades. The picture is gloomy, but it has a vividness which the other cantos lack. I was very glad when I came to the part of the stoiw in which Duessa is exposed in all her hateful, horrible deformity. I was so pleased that I scarcely cared to read farther, for it seemed to me that the knight ' s troubles must certainly be ended. I think Spenser has drawn this character excellently well. One immediately thinks WOOD-WORKING SHOP.

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■20 MIND AND HAND. And again, in his description of the Man of Law, lie gives an example of Ins pleasant satire which, though very ef- fective, contains not the slightest hint of bitterness or malice. This man of law was wise; he was famous; he had great fees paid him: he had rich robes : his clients looked upon him with awe and respect, because he was so important and knowing, and had so many great things to look after. The reader is about to sympathize with it all. Then comes that subtle and truly Chau- cerian stroke : And yet lie seemed busier than lie was. What an innocent tone these words have, and yet we can almost see the smile lurking in the corners of his mouth as lie writes them, and we can not help smiling also. But because Chaucer is wont to show the merry side of everything, we must not think him incapable of deep and serious thought. Some biographers have accused him of be- ing irreligious, basing their accusations upon the light way in which he speaks of the monks and friars. Frank and unpre- tending himself, he despised deceit and pretense in others, but he was always will- ing to acknowledge and revere a truly re- ligious man, as his tribute to The Parish Priest plainly shows: Wide was his parish with houses far asunder, Yet, ceasing not for rain nor thunder, In sickness and in pain he saw The farthest in his parish, great and small. This noble example for his flock he wrought, That first he worked and afterwards he taught. And this figure he added thereunto : That if gold rust, what shall iron do? He hated pomp and asked no reverence, Nor made him an hypocritical conscience; But Christ ' s lore and his apostle ' s twelve He taught, but first he followed it himself. Lowell says that Chaucer mused good naturedly over the vices and follies of men, and, never forgetting that he was fashioned of the same clay, is rather apt to pity than condemn. Chaucer gives us many lessons in moral- ity, but they are incidental and indirect; therefore they do not detract from the freshness of the poem. Knowing that he had lived during that period which imme- diately followed the Norman Conquest, and that he received his earliest inspiration from the poets of Southern Europe, such as Dante and Petrarch, we can easil} T recog- nize in him a delicate sentiment and a courtliness of expression which is foreign to a purely English Avriter. But back of this the northern Teutonic blood is mani- fest in his good common sense and practical ideas. He was fortunate enough to have possessed both temperaments, and this ad- vantag e, with his natural simplicity and his knowledge of both court life and humble, lowly life, made his poetry the picturesque, healthy and charming literature that it is. LlLLIE POEHLER, 12 B. English. SPENSER ' S FAERY QUEENE. ANY times during my English work, and also in my readings (especially do I recall quotations in the novels of Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper), I have happened upon reference to Spenser ' s Faery Queene, but nothing in all I read prepared me for the true character of the poem, until I actually took up the study of it. Over a year ago I found a picture of Una and the Lion. I admired it, it left a distinct impression on my mind. But I did not know who Una was at that time, so 1 passed the picture by as some artist ' s fancy. When I came to Una and the Lion in the Faery Queene, that picture instantly came before my mind and I im- mediately hunted it up, and from that time on both picture and story had increased ten-fold in interest. I think I shall always

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22 MIND AND HAND. of Tennyson ' s conception of a very similar character, that of Vivian. Both of these women are fair without and foul within. Although I do not like the lower inter- pretation of this poem, I think Spenser struck clearly and forcibly the key-note of the age in which he lived, that of bitter religious strife. Minnie Bowen, 12 A, English. WITHOUT. Once, in the twilight of a wintry day, One passed me silent, struggling on his way, With head bowed low, and hands that burdens bore, And saw not how, a little space before, A woman watched his coming, where the light Poured a glad welcome through a window bright, Set thick with flowers that showed no fairer bloom Than her sweet face turned outward to the gloom. Yet when his foot, with quick, impatient stride, But touched the step, the door swung open wide, Soft hands reached swiftly out with eager hold, And drew the dear one in from storm and cold. O love! whose eyes, from some celestial light, Behold me toiling, burdened through the night, Tender of every blast at which I cower, . Yet smiling still, to know how brief the hour, Keeping within thy radiant, love-lit home, Some glad surprise to whisper when I come, ' Tis but a breath till the door I win And thy dear hands will swiftly draw me in. Esta Olsen. THE GERMAN CLASS. FERHAPS some chance reader of this article has felt a curiosity concern- ing the way in which a foreign language is learned. I felt the same curiosity when I entered the recitation room on the first day of the term and found some twenty others assem- bled, each, like myself, thirsting for knowl- edge ( ? ) Our class motto might well have been: When in Germany, do as the Germans do, for, odd as it may seem, the first thing introduced to us was — German conversa- tion ! We commenced to learn how to speak German by speaking German ! A very simple rule, apparently. (I will say, however, for the benefit of the uninitiated, that it is truly wonderful how much German you can understand when it is cleverly acted out by your teacher.) Somewhat encouraged by the fact that we could really comprehend the new lan- guage, we were confronted with a fresh difficulty : We all had to learn our letters ! This is more of a task than might be supposed, when you consider that many of the letters differ but slightly in form, and if carelessly glanced over, lead to absurd changes in the words. Armed with our alphabetical key, we proceeded to unlock the mysteries of the grammar, with its vocabularies, transla- tions, declensions, conjugations, and what not. It is true, we have our trials. We have learned the bitterness which befalls him who neglects the remorseless der, die, das. Even now we are struggling in the toils of Gegenwart — Mitvergangenheit — Vor- zukunft, etc., hut we heartily agree with the immortal poet — Things like these, you know, must be In every famous victory. Last, but emphatically not least, our recitations are conducted wholly in Ger- man. Not only questions, but answers also, must he in this language, for, strange to say, the gentleman who teaches us can not understand a word of American ! Bessie Marsee Brown.