Manchester High School - Somanhis Yearbook (Manchester, CT)

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SOMANHIS EVENTS 31 all smile; even the Heavens are not omitted. The smile has not proved it- self worthless; on the contrary it is of great value in work and in play. Last of all, “Since it is true that ‘one touch of humor makes the whole world grin,” what difference does it make what that humor is; what dif- ference why or wherefore we laugh, since somehow or other, in a sorry world we do laugh. Helen Keith '22 GREAT POSSESSIONS OF NATURE We are now living in an age when in all the haste and hurry there seems to be no time to pause and look about us, to see and understand the beauties that nature holds out to our unseeing eyes. He is indeed a for- tunate man who is a born naturalist. and ever finds his pleasures near at hand in the great book of nature. We sometimes feel inclined to seek new and far-off lands, to find what beauties nature has wrought there. But what could be more beau- tiful than to step out into the open country on a golden, spring morning? All we have to do is to raise our heads, inhale the cool, clean air, and follow where fancy leads us. We walk down the lane to the place where the wood and marsh be- gin. All nature seems astir, and as we near the woods we discover that the delicate buds are, indeed, visibly swelling. Not only the buds on the trees, but also those creeping close to Mother Earth, feel the magic spell of spring. The blushing arbutus is shyly lifting its head, and the bloodroot and columbine near the babbling brook are opening. We detect a faint, sweet fragrance, and, following the scent, we catch a glimpse of what appears to be the abode of the gnomes,—a bower of pink and white blossoms, perfumed with a smothering sweetness. Nature is indeed a rare out-door volume, marvelously illustrated, and full of beautiful poetry, that few have ever read profoundly. But we must not keep our eyes on the ground to see and hear all that is given us, lest we miss nature’s little birds. Whose heart does not rejoice when the first, winsome bluebird makes his appearance? With his azure wing, gentle manners, and soft voice, he is the spirit of Spring, incarnated in a bird. It is not for long that the bluebird reigns supreme, however, for robins and swallows soon come, and bring with them warmer days and the more ma- jestic summer. Now as we stroll through the fields, finding gay flowers and birds’ nests, we think not only of the perfect workmanship of them, but of the truth of the words “that a life unenjoyed now is unenjoyed; a life not lived wisely now is not lived wisely: for the past is gone and no one knows the future.” Gaining the summit of a hill we find another treasure house in the view that is spread before us. In the distance the everchanging hills are drowsing in the hot sunshine, and nearer, the meadows are brimming over with swaying timothy. Here boisterous winds playing upon the Aeolian harp of pine needles above us would fain sing us to sleep, and let summer wane and fall be upon us if we linger, but instead we hasten back to see what changes have come upon our lane. As we wander down it this time, we notice that the leaves are tar- nished and the birds’ songs have ceased. Signs of approaching autumn are

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30 SOMANHIS EVENTS pleased? Yet he smiles, and as he smiles all around catch the gleam, and their hearts are lightened. Life is too long to comment upon all ages. It is worth while, however, to see and to think about an old person. Young people are attracted to a little old lady, who always smiles and bows as they pass by, and boys love to follow a sprightly old man as he keeps busy with his steadily decreasing activities. There is something so fascinating in an old person’s smile— these old people who seem to be always smiling. So many pictures have been painted, especially during the war, of the mothers, grown old and grey with worry, welcoming home their soldier boys with just smiles to ex- press their joy, and the mere picture makes us smile in appreciation of their joy. Then there are people, old people particularly, who never seem to see anything which is amusing. Minot Judson Savage has said, “When one never sees anything to smile at; it is because there is a serious defect of mental vision.” Persons of this type are disgusted with the younger genera- tion, looking for and finding, to their horror, all the immorality and frivol- ity there is, and then sighing to themselves, “what is this world coming to?” Such people are not desirable companions. Shakespeare has said that the Heavens smile, and in our imagination they do. It is merely our happy frame of mind, but we love to think, es- pecially as we read some love scene, of the Heavens smiling down upon the happy lovers. Smiles are not simply beautiful; they have a meaning. Smiles mean everything in business. Just one incident shows this. “A man received a wire one day, while on a business trip, that his business had been wiped out by fire. The depression which followed this news threatened for a time his mental balance and he even gave serious thought to taking his own life. While in this dangerous mood he received a letter from his daughter, a girl of mine, which read: ‘Dear Daddy—I went down to see your store that was burned and it looked awfully pretty all covered with ice. Love and kisses from Betty.’ The man laughed and the day was saved. That glint of humor was like a ray of sunshine in a dark cell. The spirit of the man was released from the prison of his gloom,” In play, as in work, a smile is not worthless. Who is generally the leader when children play “Soldier”? It is not the boy who shows that attitude, “If [ can’t be captain, | won't play”; no, it is rather the sunny dis- positioned boy whom all his playmates like who is always captain. That same boy will go right on through High School and College and still be the leader because he is the most popular, and popularity is governed by dis- position, When grown to manhood he will become prominent in society. His disposition will not change; he will be a financier, a captain of in- dustry, or, perchance, a president of his country. Handicapped and unfortunate indeed is the man whom nature has not endowed with this sunny disposition. Some may ask, “How can you smile when you are unhappy?” That is exactly when it counts, for: “Tt is easy enough to be pleasant When life flows along like a song; But the man worth while is the one who will smile When everything goes wrong.” Why not smile with the rest of the world? A smile represents pleas- ure which we love. It is caused by humor and the humorist, but largely by human nature. There are smiles both real and unreal. Nevertheless we

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32 SOMANHIS:. EVENTS on every side. When we enter the woods, the home of the squirrels, we marvel at the gorgeously colored leaves, painted in colors that vie with those of Iris’ purfled scarf. Now we catch another fragrance far different from that of autumn leaves. It is the smell of ripe apples! Our once blooming orchard is now a store-room for summer sunshine, and an in- describable odor pervades it, as if the vials of the earth’s most precious oint- ment had been broken. In the next field we find “the frost is on the punkin and fodders in the shock.” As we watch the smoke rising from the burning stubble we realize that it is the last odor of autumn, the incense of nature. We have known that winter was coming, that autumn was breaking camp, yet with what surprise do we behold the smooth, white veil or snow cov- ering the world? Oh, the joy of winter! “Give us to struggle with weather and wind; Give us to stride through the snow; Give us the feel of the chill on our cheeks, And the glow and the glory within.” How the eddying flakes, alighting noiselessly like a flock of birds, dis- guise all familiar objects with the same suit of spotless armor. The tall trees are covered with flowing, white robes; the fields are heaped with great sparkling drifts; and the fences are bedecked with fantastic ruffles fashioned by the cutting wind. As we look about us, in the dead silence of winter, we think of the truth of the words that “the air is just as full of good odors for the worker as for the idler, and it depends only upon the awareness, the alertness of our spirits whether we toil like dumb animals or bless our labouring hours with the beauty of life.” We have the “Great Possessions of Nature” on every hand; all we have to do to possess ourselves of them is to look at the world with eyes that see. Doris Robshaw ’22. THE HISTORY OF COMEDY Love of imitation is the origin of all drama. Tragedy excites sympa- thy, while comedy entertains through the excitement of mirth, The history of comedy, beginning with its appearance in Ancient Greece, developed through the Roman, Medieval, English and American periods, reveals so many changes that it can hardly be identified with the Grecian comedy. The word comedy is derived from two Greek words meaning “village revels.” From this it is supposed that comedy was originally a part of the village festivals, spent in revelry to honor the god of wine, Dionysus. Shortly after the solemnities of the religious festivals had secularized, rival bands were formed by young men, who, dressed as birds or beasts, appear- ed at the vintage festivals where they broke out into riotous dancing and singing. At first this entertainment was enjoyed, but soon the Greeks, ar- tistic by nature, objected to this coarse ribaldry. This led to a general improvement which resulted in the Old Comedy, the first of the three divisions of the Grecian comic drama. Aristophanes