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

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s MIND AND HAND. defense of the weak and helpless. He comes as a deliverer of the English people, and is set forth as a just and generous king. His strength and valor are devoted to the interests of his down trodden subjects. His noble treatment of his selfish brother, the Regent John, is evidence of his generous nature and gains for him the title of the lion-hearted for another reason than that of personal bravery. The picture of Richard which is pre- sented in The Talisman is not nearly so pleasing as that in Ivanhoe. The jeal- ous, savage nature of the man is distinctly brought out. He is no longer the strong, tender-hearted father of the people, but the rash and arrogant leader of fierce and un- scrupulous warriors. Even here, however, with all his tyranny, the noble courage and fitful generosity of the man are in evidence. Richard I is of that type of character formed hy the blending of the Norman and Saxon races. He has the fiery courage of the Norman combined with the obstinacy of the Saxon. His impetuous nature he inherited from his Norman fathers, his perseverance and impatience of wrong- doing from the Saxon. The two views of his character taken together form the ideal knight of the time, and we can easily see why the name, Rich- ard the Lion-Hearted, of England, has be- come a synonym for all that is regarded as admirable by the English speaking people of the world. Stella Dean, 11 B. An Impromptu. ONLY A TRAMP. ©NE warm day last summer several la- dies were sitting on the lawn before a large house in one of our principal streets. Some were idly turning the leaves of magazines, some were talking, and all were trying to pass the afternoon in some way to keep from noticing the heat. Presently a man came shuffling along the street and stopped hesitatingly at the gate. Then, seeing the ladies, he came slowly up the walk. Stepping before an elderly lady in the group, he took oft his hat and said, in a low voice : Won ' t you please give me a dime? I ' m so ' But she looked up only long enough to say : No, in a voice that permitted no re- monstrance, and then resumed her inter- rupted conversation with another lady. He apparently did not have courage to ask any of the other ladies for alms, and was returning to the street, when a young girl, sitting somewhat apart from the rest, looked up from her book and asked him what he wanted with the dime. To buy something to eat, he muttered, and was passing on, when she opened a jeweled purse which hung at her belt and gave him a quarter. Thankee kindly, Miss, he said, as he passed on, and she noticed that tears stood in his eyes. Why did you do it ' r asked several ot the ladies. Why, he ' s only a tramp. Yes, indeed, said the elderly lady, who had refused his request. But before the girl could answer, every one was startled by a cry of horror. Absorbed in their conversation, they had not noticed that the maid who had charge of a small child belonging to one of the ladies had left it for a few minutes. While the tramp was in the yard, the child had noticed the gate, which had been left un- latched, and had toddled out into the street. When the tramp left the yard, he noticed the child playing outside, and started toward it. Seeing him, it ran on, right in the path of a motor coming down the street at full speed The tramp ran forward, grasped the child, and set it down beyond danger. He tried to get off the track, but fell directly in front of the

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MIND AND HAND. MILTON. ©F the three authors, Chaucer, Shake- speare and Milton, whom we have studied this term, Milton is, perhaps, the most interesting. He is not so simple as Chaucer, nor so thoroughly appreciative of human nature as Shakespeare, hut in his choice of subject and manner of treatment he can not be surpassed. His genius is undoubtedly at its height in Paradise Lost. As it was not founded on any truth, on real history or legend, Milton ' s imagination was here drawn on to a great extent. Having undertaken a vast enterprise, he did not hesitate; and, wit- ness the result: A book whose grandeur has never been equaled; a book which, though largely imaginative, is strangely consistent all the way through. The poet ' s phrasing is magnificent. His figures are bold but very apt, as can be seen from the following : What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, And plunge us in the rlames? Or from above Should intermitted vengeance arm again His red right hand to plague us? The story is a harmonious mixture of classical myth and biblical event, with now and then an earthly touch which renders the whole charming. In the invocation of the Muse — Sing, heavenly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb or of Sinai didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed In the beginning how the heavens and earth Rose out of chaos. This is aptly illustrated. Milton has a peculiar way of inverting his clauses, whole sentences, in fact, which renders them exceedingly forcible. Satan ' s appeal is masterly. Here we have a natural flow of words that is dis- tinctly characteristic. We are brought face to face with the Evil One, not as some shadow lurking in the distance, but as a living being, a powerful, passionate being, the symbol of defiance: ' Is this the region, this the soil, the clime, ' Said then the lost archangel, ' this the seat That we must change forheaven ? this mournful gloom For that celestial light? ' In this short quotation is one of the au- thor ' s rare touches of pathos, strange though it may seem in its connection with Satan. It is true there are some passages in the book which are not as good. They seem to have been studied, forced, and the result is rather monotonous. But these, how- ever, are comparatively rare. On the whole, from the study of this epic we get Milton ' s style as we could get it from no other one of his productions. Anna Kautsky, 12 B. THE CHARACTER OF RICHARD I, AS PORTRAYED IN IVANHOE AND THE TALISMAN. §IR WALTER SCOTT is skillful in his choice of historical characters, and manages to weave into his romances some well known incidents in the life of national heroes. The two stories, Ivanhoe and The Talisman, may be called companion pieces, in that both deal with the life and charac- ter of Richard I, of England. Although Coeur de Lion is not the hero of either book, his deeds form a large portion of the action of both stories. The disparity in the two pictures may doubtless be explained by the wide differ- ence in the setting. The trouble with the Regent Prince John, of England, made Richard ' s arrival in England an occasion of great joy and thanksgiving. The atti- tude of the people brought out all the softer traits in the king ' s character. Therefore he is represented in Ivanhoe as a liberty- loving monarch, ready to raise his arm in

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MIXD AND HAND. u approaching car. As it passed over his body, several people saw the tragedy, and screamed ; but it was too late. He was carefully carried away ; and, as people looked at the still, white face, and the bruised hand still grasping the quarter, none thought to say, He ' s only a tramp, for the tramp had become a hero. Mabel Walters, 10 A English. Gusts of blinding smoke rolled from the smokestack. Clouds of hissing steam issued from the straining cylinder-ports. The earth trembled ; dust collected in her wake. A hoarse scream from the whistle, a clang from the bell, a glimpse of a toil- ing fireman, an engineer grasping the throttle, and the Fast Mail had passed. Walter Newman, 10 A English. An Impromptu: Rapidity of Action. THE FAST MAIL. AN APPARITION. (H IIE railway track lay gleaming in the X sun. A faint singing noise came from the rails. Noticing this, I remarked to a companion, Here she comes. Here she came, indeed. In an instant the faint noise was a roar. A massive body of black, gleaming iron tore madly toward the town. On she came, swaying, pounding the rails in a mad endeavor to increase her speed. TT FEW days ago, while walking along X a country road north of the city, I met an apparition which exactly fitted my idea of Huckleberry Finn ' s father. As this specimen of humanity approached me I noticed that he was very tall ; that the part of his visage which was not cov- ered by a bristling beard or hidden by an old army hat was of an ashy paleness ; that his head was set low between a pair of broad shoulders. He wore an old blue coat, tattered and threadbare. His hands, which were thrust well forward in his trousers ' pockets, w T orked automatically with each step. His legs were long and bowed, which was made more noticeable by the tightness of his old grey trousers. His shoes were very large, fastened with buckles, and at each step flattened a square foot of dust. With a gruff Howd ' ye ' ' he passed out of sight over a hill. John Dooley, 10B English. HER DARLING. ' TI WAS in the month of June, when the X flowers were out in all their pristine beauty, that my brother was riding on horseback through a shadowy wood, on the outskirts of Indianapolis. He had ridden some distance, w 7 hen the path led in the direction of a river. He followed the path,