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

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1 1 MIND AND HAND. by a slight movement of my arm ; and lie came gliding down the slender body of a sapling. Eying me an instant with that crouching, motionless gaze, which only snakes and devils can assume, he turned quickly and disappeared in the under- growth. Norton N. Fisher, 12 a. GOETHE ' S FAUST. rf IIE senior German class has taken up X the study of Faust for this term ' s work. This drama is the greatest and most singular production in German lit- erature; therefore, the pupils were proud of being favored with this selection. The origin of Faust is based upon a me- diaeval legend, according to which a certain magician, Dr. Faustus, in order to quench his insatiable thirst for knowledge and fame, enters into an alliance with the devil. After Faustus agrees to sell his soul on condition that Satan shall satisfy all his wishes, Me- phistopheles introduces him to the most wonderful knowledge concerning the mys- teries of nature and the hereafter. Having satisfied his reckless desire, the devil finally demands the soul of his victim in payment, and Faustus perishes. Goethe, when yet a boy, was impressed with the moral of this story and received the first conceptions of the ethical idea which he afterwards embodied in Faust, ' ' the greatest production of his life. As such, the drama possesses a double literary value. It is appreciated as an au- tobiography and admired for the ethical beauty of its idea. Id order to understand and interpret dif- ficult passages in the drama, it is necessary to be thoroughly acquainted with Goethe ' s life. All his works, Goethe said, are con- fessions. In this respect, Faust maybe called the drama of Goethe ' s life. Much pleasure is derived from comparing the poet ' s life with the hero ' s and finding the characteristics, desires and motives of Goethe ' s life reflected in the person of Faust, the idealist. The greatest and universally acknowl- edged value, however, lies in the ethical beauty, the sublime idea which makes Faust the drama of human life. Who shall prevail in the great struggle for truth, knowledge, and highest develop- ment of human nature? Faust, the long- ing, upward striving idealist, or Mephis- topheles, the tempter, destroyer and cynic ? Shall Faust, too, perish, as the legendary Faustus does ? In the prologue, Mephistopheles wa- gers to seduce Faust, the servant of the Lord, from his allegiance to his Creator. Will he be victorious? To follow the threads of this leading idea through the various, seemingly un- connected scenes of the first, and the alle- gories and symbols of the second act, would require more space than an or- dinary composition. Faust is the modern Prometheus. In his Titan-like struggle to penetrate the depths of knowledge, he yearns to com- prehend all Jaws that govern the great universe and longs to comprehend eternal nature. lie yearns for revelation, which he hopes to find, first, in magic, afterwards b} r the aid of Mephistopheles. He is tempted, he may err, as longs as man lives, man errs, he may fall. Mephis- topheles may triumphantly cry : He fell ! It is finished ! but he never fully succeeds in diverting the immortal mind of Faust from its aspirations. Mephistopheles may try his worst, he may finally rejoice at his death; but alas ! the spirits who have been commanded to bring the departing soul of Faust to hell are overcome by good angels, who wrest the immortal in Faust from the evil one and fly heavenward. What has Goethe made out of the simple story of an adventurer?

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MIND AND HAND. 13 Then he told that same old story, prais- ing the Queen and the nobility. He said he was one of the English nobility, and gave a minute description of the family estate in England. He seemed to forget the circle of red- shirted men, and the low, dirty factory, and the long, monotonous rows of black, greasy machines. He was roaming once again in the green parks of his old English home, and his gray eyes lighted with pride, and his thin, delicate hands shook with excitement as he told of the ancient glory of his family. He ceased, and for several seconds the men smoked on in silence. Then Sam Ma- guire broke out, his face red with anger: What do you stay in this measly, good-for-nothing country for, any way, if England is so much better? Why don ' t you go back and live off your dukes and earls, instead o ' stayin ' here an ' workin ' an ' takin ' the bread out o ' the mouth o ' some pore cuss that needs it worse ' n you do ? Larry arose, full of dignity. I will return to my native land, sir, as soon as my father ' s estate is settled. Then I shall be able to live as one of the English nobility should live. The group watched him in silence a9 he walked away. I don ' t believe he ' s a nobleman no more ' n I am. He ' s nothin ' but an ol ' humbug, said one. I tell you what we ' ll do, cried Sam. Let ' s write a letter savin ' that his father ' s estate has all fell to him. I ' ll send the let- ter to him through the mail, an ' we ' ll watch him when he gits it. That ' s the way we can tell whether he ' s a nobleman or not. So the letter was written and mailed. The following noon the men gathered at the end of the room to watch Larry. They saw one of the office men come in and hand (3) Larry a letter. They saw him start and eagerly tear it open. His hands shook so that he dropped his glasses twice. The men watched him with guilty faces. They looked more like so many criminals than like practical jokers. Larry unfolded the letter hastily and read it. With a low cry of joy he started from his bench and tottered toward them, feebly waving the letter in the air. Then he saw the guilt and shame written on the faces of the men, and in a flash he under- stood the truth. A pain convulsed his face, and, with a moan, he fell to the floor. The men rushed to him and began rub- bing his hands and fanning him. Quick, boys ! Open his coat and shirt and let him get some air. I didn ' t think he ' d carry on like this, murmured Sam. Sam tore open his shirt and put his hand on Larry ' s heart just in time to feel the last faint flutter, and he felt the last feeble breath on his cheek. His fingers touched something cold and hard which hung around Larry ' s neck. He held it up to the light. It was a small silver medal bearing the words : To a Gentleman. From His Friends. Herbert Moore, 11 A. AN ARCH ENEMY. (H HREE or four yards from me was a L nest, containing young birds, beneath which, in long festoons, lay a huge black snake. What could be more overpower- ingly terrible to an unsuspecting family of birds than the sudden appearance above their home of the head and neck of this arch enemy. I could not but admire his beauty. His black, shining folds ; his easy, gliding movement, head erect, eyes glisten- ing, tongue playing like subtle flame, and his invisible means of locomotion charmed me. Presently his attention was arrested

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MIND AND HAND. 15 The motives and desires of the legendary Faustus are selfish, sinful, and his enjoy- ment is sensual. Faust, however, aspires to the greatest and best in human nature; he at last finds satisfaction in unselfish activity purified by divine love. Louise Iske. THE SKYLARK. I ANY of our nature loving poets have written of the birds with which we are familiar, but few have given us such eloquent verses as those written by Words- worth and Shelley, To a Skylark. It is both interesting and instructive to con- trast their treatment of the subject, their epithets and phrases, as in each case we may learn a great deal of the style of the poet. When we stop to compare their epithets we first notice the similarity between many f them, and we feel that Shelley must have read and absorbed many of Wordsworth ' s ideas in both his Skylark and Cuckoo. For instance, Wordsworth speaks of Blithe newcomer, A voice, a mystery, Thou art laughing and scorning, Up with me, up with me into the clouds Singing, singing, with clouds and sky about thee ringing; while Shelley, twenty years later, tells us of the blithe spirit, sprite or bird, Thou scorner of the ground, and Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest, Like a cloud of fire ; The blue deep thou wingest, And singing still dost soar And soaring ever singest. Yet in this very comparison we see wherein Shelley surpasses Wordsworth. Shelley ' s is the more imaginative, the more vivid. His ideas have more warmth and color. Such expressions as cloud of fire, blue deep, golden lightning, pale purple even, shrill delight, silver sphere, rose embowered, twinkling grass, are indicative of this. Shelley is telling us of the beauty which surrounds the skylark. His verses are profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Wordsworth, while he sees the beauty, is, in addition, trying to teach us something. In his poem we are drawn close to the poet ' s own feelings. He says, in one place — Alas! my journey, rugged and uneven, Through prickly moors or dusty ways must wind; But hearing thee, or others of thy kind, As full of gladness and as free of heaven, I, with my fate contented, will plod on, And hope for higher raptures when life ' s day is done. In Shelley ' s poena we find one stanza which we might think of as representative of his experiences in life. He says — We look before and after, And pine for what is not; Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught ; Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. Wordsworth ' s use of adjectives is some- times very striking, such as drunken lark, and he has given us lines of rare beauty which more than compensate for an occasional unhappy expression. To sum the matter up we must say that each poem is a reflection of the poet ' s life and the time in which he lived. Words- worth ' s is simple and composed, breathing peace from every stanza. Shelley ' s is striking, picturesque, vivid, sparkling with every new thought. Shelley ' s is the more finished, perfected poem, and to me the more pleasing. C. T., 12A English.