Fairmont State University - Mound Yearbook (Fairmont, WV)

Page 18 text:

Our Last Autumn , OFTLY, silently, one by one, The pretty leaves come fluttering down. Ere the cold north wind begins to roar, Maple and poplar and sycamore Will give their kindly leaves to cover The sleeping flowers and fading clover. All over the green grass, soft and sweet, They spread a new carpet for our feet, And some are yellow and some are brown, These autumn leaves now fluttering down. Swift through the Indian summer sky The flocks of birds go skimming by, High on the gables the sparrows chatter, Then softly down to the ground they flutter. They hop along with no thought of fear, Merry and happy and full of cheer. And here the pretty pigeons come Sailing into their turret home. They coo awhile, then fly away, White and purple, black and gray. Here in the corner the garden lies; Slowly each bright autumn flower dies. There in the heart of the yellow flower, A honey bee bathes in the golden shower; The sunflower nods on its blackened stem- Its head, once golden, has lost its gleam, And the breezes whisper through corn-blades sere, Telling them Winter will soon be here. The pansies that blossomed and cheered awhile Have fallen asleep and ceased to smile. Round the windows and under the eaves, Cling the graceful ivy wreathes; Some are as red as the walls where they cling, Others are green as they were in the spring.)! See! How they drape round the gray stone arch And climb to the windows above the porch— 12

Page 17 text:

OvJ 5 sSiS ? ji -- •fi EVOLUTION OF THE F. S. N. S. s tion, and, ere another school year begins, the Fairmont Normal will have, for the fourth time, left its outgrown shell for a nobler and better one — one that will be in keeping with the quality of work now being done in the old building. At the beginning of the present school year, the Board of Regents transferred Mr. Woodley to our sister Normal School at Huntington, and, in his place, elected Professor Joseph 0. Rosier, who had for years been Superintendent of the local city schools and had also served as Principal of the Normal during the Summer term. Thus he was, in the beginning, thoroughly acquainted with the Normal School work, and also the needs of the children of the public school. Now, under the direction of Mr. Rosier and a strong faculty composed of twenty- one capable men and women, the Fairmont State Normal School is steadily moving toward the front rank of the normal schools of our nation, and we prophesy that, under the stimulus that will be afforded by the magnificent new buildings and modern equipment, its standard of efficiency will be raised higher and higher until it will become a standard bearer in the educational field of not only West Virginia, but also of the whole nation. 11

Page 19 text:

— i o tS ! S S ZJz . - j Li OUR LAST AUTUMN l vj? s Lovingly decking the dear old walls Enclosing our worn old Normal halls. And the breezes play in the trembling vines, Telling of autumn and happy times. The dear old building of red and gray Seems only a part of nature and today. Like the swaying trees, or the grassy mound, Or the withered leaves that lie on the ground. The brick is dull, the stone is gray, Their tints no longer bright and gay; The windows reflect the sunlight ' s gleam And fleecy clouds like an autumn stream; The cl ock as it strikes the hours away, Makes sweetest chimes at the close of day! This is our last bright autumn here, At this old home and campus and dear, For when the year has passed and when Bright autumn plucks the leaves again, Our home will be on yonder hill, The newer mansions there to fill. But no new mansion can efface The memories of this dear old place — Yet the school outgrows its narrow halls, And so may we, as the future calls. MERLE SHARPS. 13