Manchester High School - Somanhis Yearbook (Manchester, CT)

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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

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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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SOMANHIS EVENTS 33 was the only successful playright of the old comedy. It was the purpose of his plays to satirize public affairs and to caricature ambitious politicians. Pericles, being the most prominent man in public affairs at that time, was naturally the butt of much criticism. The Athenian populace and even Per- icles himself, were amused by - ristophane’s ridicule of Pericles, whom he called the onion-headed Zeus, from the peculiar shape of his head. With the decline of Grecian democracy and the rise of tyranny, drama- tists were strictly forbidden to ridicule politicians. This restraint hastened the decline of the Old Comedy which in turn was replaced by the Middle Comedy. In a play of this class, actors. in the name of the author, would come to the front of the stage to joke with certain members in the audience. The popular disapproval of this type of play compelled writers to find something new. This resulted in the introduction of the New Comedy, the third division of Greek Comedy, which dated from the establishment of Macedonian supremacy. Menander, the best known playwright of — this period, in place of ridiculing public men, directed his satire against the com- plications of social life which had been corrupted by Oriental influences. The Greeks, however, during this last period of Athenian importance would not allow the dramatists to expose their faults. This put an end to all Gre- cian Comedy. Fortunately, with the spread of Grecian culture, the Romans were at- tracted to the comic drama as written by Menander. Terence and Plautus, both imitators of Menander’s style, were popular Roman playwrights. It has been through their works, preserved during the Middle Ages by the monks, that the classical comedy has survived, Though the Romans enjoyed Grecian comedy for a time, yet, with the increase of wealth, they developed a fondness for bloody spectacles, which resulted in the gladiatorial combats. Although this new interest did not completely ruin the theater, the rising power of the Christian Church ex- erted its authority in forbidding the attendance of the theatre. To carry out this regulation of the Church, all theatre-goers were excommunicated. This abandonment of the theatre lasted for over a thousand years, but with the incre ased number of adherents to the Orthodox Church, it was confronted with the problems of teaching the Christian doctrine to the ig- norant barbarians, The Church, therefore, strongly urged the representa- tion of scenes from the Bible. At first this method of teaching proved bene- ficial, but as time went on people began to attend the plays merely for pleasure, and this caused the total abandonment of plays given by the Church. The plays were next taken up by the theater guilds which, in addition to presenting Bible scenes, gave Morality Plays in which allegorical figures representing the virtues and vices were the characters. In these plays the comic element was introduced in the figure of Vice who used to chide and play pranks upon the Virtues. These plays were also given in England where the desire for something new encouraged the English to revive the Old Classic Drama. It was with this idea that “Ralph Roister Doister”, the first English Comedy, was writ- ten. It was soon followed by “Gammer Gurton’s Needle,” a comic portrayal of domestic life. These were received with great enthusiasm, and more com- edies followed in rapid succession. Although there were a number of good playwrights before Shakes- peare, yet his genius seems to have obscured the preceding dramatists. With the coming of Shakespeare, English Comedy like Tragedy reached its height. He, however, mixed the two types of drama especially in his tragedies, where, to relieve a tenseness of situation, humorous scenes were introduced, for example, “the grave-diggers” scene in Hamlet.