Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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time we are arpfuinp: whether or not we should mingle with the affairs of European countries. The problems before us are the settlement of war- debts and reparations, whether or not we should enter the Lea ue and the World Court, immigration, and the liberation of our possessions. That is our past and present but what does the future hold in store for us in foreign relations? No one definitely knows what the United States will do in the future. How- ever, one fact seems certain : she will do her utmost to establish world peace. Her policies in the past seem to indicate this. Amer- ica has become one of the leading powers of the world and it is her duty as such to do as much as she can to promote international peace. Whatever the foreis-n events that we enter into in the future, let us. as a nation, initiate a foreign policv bv which the world can secure and be certain of universal prosoeritv and well-being but above all let ns hfive international peace and good- will. AMERICAN PATRIOTIC POETRY Barbara Damon A learned man once said, “The peace of a nation is determined by its wars.’ ' That the United States has advanced steadily and consis- tently to the position of the great- est world power is due then, in a certain degree, to its wars. Every war in which the United States has fought or taken part has ended in her favor. She has contest with na- tions stronger than herself and more fully equipped. Why, then, should we always be the victor? The peo- ple of a country determine that country’s value, and it is the reso- lute, indomitable spirit of American patriots that has enabled us to win the respect of the world. But back of this patriotism is some force, vi- tally stronger than that of the mul- titude, which is ever pushing and urging the people to intenser feel- ing. This force is found in the great poets whom America has pro- duced. Because a poet’s feelings are more subtle, imaginative, and crea- tive than those of the majority, he is able to influence and sway pop- ular spirit. Yet the poet must have a strong, deep feeling that gives him his power over others. Patri- otism is as personal a feeling as love itself, and although we think of a poet as a rather imaginative and ro- mantic being, of little material val- ue, according to Mr. Leonard, a modern essayist, “the song that nerves a nation’s heart is in itself a deed.” One of the first of America’s great poets who influenced the fate of the nation is John Greenleaf Whittier. He was an ardent aboli- tionist and expressed his feelings in such vivid poetry that he drew many people to the cause. Hitherto his poems with their conventional smoothness had attracted attention by the gentle spirit that pervaded them; when he began to write in behalf of the cause of abolition, his loud cry, violent and tempestuous, broke upon the ear with a harsh- ness and yet an insistent fen or which compelled men to listen. Such intense feeling could not fail to draw others to his cause with very appreciable results. In Whittiers’ famous poem, “Bar- bara Frietchie, his patriotic spirit predominates. We all know the ringing lines: “Shoot if you must this old gray head. But spare your country’s flag, she said.” Another poet imbued with this same patriotic spirit came into prominence during the Mexican War. This was James Russell Low- ell, also a decided anti-slavery ad- vocate. His work called the “Big- low Papers” not only strengthened 12

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become citizens of the United States under our naturalization laws. This excluded the Japanese coolies who were coming into California in large numbers, working for very little pay and consequently putting many Americans out of work. This law was passed to protect our prosper- ity and welfare and to prohibit from coming into our country those people who would lower our stand- ards of living. Another topic on the lips of American politicians and statesmen today is that regarding our island possessions. The United States has shown no desire to put its posses- sions under absolute control of its government, and the natives living in the possessions are contented with practically entire self-rule. Al- though a governor is sent into each possession from the United States, the legislative branches are chosen by the natives themselves. All laws passed by legislatures in the posses- sions must be approved by the Con- gress and president of the United States. On the other hand Ameri- ca has done much to improve edu- cation and sanitation in the Philip- pines, Hawaii, and Porto Rico. At one time the Filipinos expressed a desire for complete independence and Congress voted that it be given them at the time when we were con- vinced that they would be able to govern themselves. When the Por- to Ricans saw that they had little hope of securing independence, they petitioned the United States Gov- ernment to give them the right to become American citizens. This privilege was granted to all natives of that island. Our relations with our possessions stand in this condi- tion at the present time. Like a band of hungry wolves searching for helpless prey, the na- tions of the world today are seek- ing plans by which they will be able to secure the future peace and prosperity of their people. This condition has been brought about as a result of the Great War; the more statesmen think of the events that led up to and took place dur- ing the war, the more they are con- vinced that there should be peace in the future. Much has been done to make future wars impossible. Be- sides the work of the League of Na- tions, international peace confer- ences take place at intervals at the Hague. The work accomplished by these conferences is much the same as that done by the League of Na- tions and the World Court. Another step which was taken to lessen the possiblities of war was the attempt at the limitation of arm- aments on land and water. A na- val conference was held in Wash- ington in 1921 - 1922 which put England, America, and Japan on the 5:5:3 ratio. The next naval conference aiming at disarmament was held recently at Geneva. This conference was a failure because the great naval powers could not come to terms. What are the results of these na- val conferences? The Congress of the United States and the English Parliament have both included in their budgets for the coming year a great sum of money for the build- ing of war ships. These confer- ences have done nothing to insure disarmament and it is the strong be- lief of noted statesmen today that disarmament can come only from the voluntary action of each na- tion ; — the desire to limit arma- ments on a purely mathematical ba- sis has failed. Thus we see the fo reign affairs of our country pass before our eyes. In the earlier part of the nineteenth century, America, as a young nation paid as little attention as possible to foreign relations. Having estab- lished herself as a nation in the lat- ter part of that century America, through the Monroe Doctrine, took upon herself the protection of Lat- in-American republics and continues to do so today. At the present 11

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the abolitionist fever of the north, but gave to all the other states, and even to England a definition of the New England policy concerning slavery. The sly humor and ready wit, irony, well-defined New Eng- land characters, and the political philosophy made the “Biglow Pa- pers” a series that became immedi- ately popular and very important. The fact that American poetic gen- ius has failed to materialize under even more remarkable circumstan- ces because of the essentially com- mercial character of the American people shows the insight, emotion, and depth of feeling that must have inspired Lowell when he wrote those clever papers. A third patriotic poet who aided the United States in her glorious en- deavor to preserve a union “one and inseparable” was Walt Whitman. He not only aroused feeling with his words, but he also devoted him- self to the cause of liberty. Al- though unable, because of ill health, to be a soldier, he did his bit for the Union by nursing his unfortunate compatriots during the Civil War. “O Captain, my Captain,” Whit- man’s most famous poem, and inci- dentally the only one he wrote in rhyme, was not written to encour- age the Northern forces, but as a great tribute to Lincoln. In fact this is the greatest elegy ever written on Lincoln. The words of that immortal poem will ever ring- out strong and true. “O Captain! my captain! our fear- ful trip is done; The ship has weathered every gale, the prize we sought is won ; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting. While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! heart! heart! Leave you not the little spot Where on the deck my captain lies. Fallen cold and dead.” The fact that these patriotic po- ets did not always write to arouse war- like spirits is shown in another of Whitman’s poems entitled “Pion- eers, O ! Pioneers.” This poem shows the author ' s deep reverence for the glories and accomplishments of our country. One stanza that is applicable to all times is: ‘■plave the eider races halted ? Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas? We take up the task eternal, and the burden, and the lesson; Pion- eers! O Pioneers!” A nation is not obliged to have a national song, as it is to have a settled form of government and laws. But in some crisis of national life a song arises which embodies the sentiments of the hour and be- cause it satisfies this need for the expression of a whole people, it en- dures, and in time becomes a na- tional hymn. Such a song is Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The celebrated author- ess wrote this hymn in 1861 the first year of the Civil War, to en- courage the soldiers of the North in their struggle to preserve the Union, and none can measure its infiuence in nerving the hearts and stimulating the courage of the sol- diers in blue. So noticeable was the effect of this song that soon af- ter the war a noted Confederate leader was heard to say to a Fed- eral officer, “If we had had your songs, you never could have con- quered us !” But now the United States has no need of poems and hymns that will stir the nation to a ferocious desire for war. We are persisting in the hope that the world has been rid of war for all times. With this out- look we are looking forward to a future of peace and prosperity with advancement in industry and know- ledge. America, “The land of the free and the home of the brave” is the melting-pot of the nations. Here, on common ground, mingle races 13