Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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THK AUGUSTA SEMINARY ANXUAL. 21 Last Will and Testament of the Class-Prophet. O heavenly muse, I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventurous sonj While it pursues Things unattenipted yet in prose or rhinie. To write successfully the history of this class, the writer should have a readier pen than mine ; therefore, let it be said that this is but a brief sketch, intended to give an admiring public some idea of the Literature class of ' 91. What class more progressive, — for who before us has issued a Seminary Annual ? What one broader in its views ? — or able to boast of nobler representatives of the muse of the quill ? What brighter stars destined to shine in the literary firmament? To state the case briefly, and with the becom- ing modesty of ye little school-girls; — We are the people ! For our fame on brightest pages. Penned by poets and by sages, Shall go sounding down the ages. For us, the softer Adams of our Academe, Knowledge is no longer a fountain sealed. From the first days ot school, through the long winter months, and up to the delightfully lazy days preceding the Finals, the literature girl nobly shoulders the responsibility resting on her, and lives fi-om da} to day, drinking deep from Wisdom ' s Well. Indifferent alike to the world, the frivol ties of society, and the alluring wiles of creation ' s lords, she turns from Terpsichore to worship at the shrine of Minerva. Now she amuses herself by digging deep into English soil, and unearthing Anglo-Saxon roots; then she soars to the sublime heights of poesy, and lives in a world of her own. Her leisure hours are w hiled away in reading Burke and Bacon; Shakespeare is her wildest dissipation, and awful odes she writes, treating of Home Rule, Irish Emigration, Social and Religious Liberty, c. c. Yet, in spite of the hard work, there is no class more delightful, or instructive than this. As I write, a thousand memories come to me, bringing to mind the pleasant hours spent on Literature work, and in Literature class. In our circle, there is a gracious mingling of the at-

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20 THE AUGUSTA SEMINARY ANNUAL. Scott had the power in an unusual degree of producing broad and general effects with almost one sweep of his magic pencil. What more perfect description of lovely Loch Achray could we have than the one line : So lone a lake, so sweet a strand ! for even now, it is said, though haunted by tourists, if once you leave their beat you may get into complete quiet and solitude, sweet, not dreary. Again, in Marmion, with spell -bound steps we fol- low until we stand, with the holy hush of Nature creep- ing o ' er us, By lone St. Mary ' s silent lake. Nor pen nor sedge Pollute the pure lakes crystal edge. Abrupt and sheer, the mountains sink At once upon the level brink, And just a trace of silver sand Marks where the water meets the land, Nor thicket, dell nor copse you spy. Where living thing concealed might lie, There ' s nothing left to fancy ' s guess, You see that all is loneliness. ' ' The poem opens with an exquisite description of the set of day on Norham ' s castled steep. ' ' We see the battled towers and flanking walls shining in yellow lustre, while from the warriors ' armor flashes back again The western blaze In lines of dazzling light. But we have left the crimson sunset glow, and now was ever scene so sad and fair? We gaze on Melrose ' s ruins gray, over which the pale moonlight streams in un- certain showers, lighting up the ruined pile with its silver edges. Ah ! long would we linger here, listening to the beating of the distant Tweed and wrapped in the solemn mystery of night, but time rolls his ceaseless course, and though, in this never ending art-gallerj magical pictures never cease to charm our eyes and hearts, must we turn away our steps, and with the night fade into silence. Mamie Richmond.

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22 THE AUGUSTA SEMINARY ANNUAL. tributes of both the Muses and the Graces, for take us all in all, you ne ' er shall look upon our like again. Let me now call forth individually, the members of this band, and leave with them the last will and testament of the class-prophet. First, to our song-bird, the fair representative of St. Cecelia ' s art, Duncan Williams, we bequeath a new and rare song, which, we are sure, will show to the best advantage her notes of linked sweetness long drawn out, Treat it quietly — it is sacred: Little Annie Rooney. To the book-worm, Edna Baer, that unto Logik hadde longi-go, we present for summer reading, three dime- novels from the Sea-side Library : The Advancement of Learning, Hobbes ' Leviathan, and Sartor Resartus. To our wit, Margaret Epes, with deepest gratitude we dedicate our most precious possession — the almighty Semi- nary joke: Caution ; Too frequent use may dull the point. To our Army-girl, Emma Baldwin, our sole represen- tative of the Wild West, we give an Arabian steed, and a tin sword. May she never quail (?) before the Bomb-shells of life ! A palette and brush is our legacy to the artist of the class. Sue Stribling. However, let us give a parting injunction not to paint things red. To the two who remain of this ' ' Dream of Fair Women , ' ' Mary Guy, Whose due feet never fail, To walk the studi- ous cloister ' s pale, and Lizzie Hanger, a scholar, and a ripe and good one, as a fitting gift we leave a bust of Pallas with the bird of wisdom. Besides the eight members of the class -proper, that is the applicants for Literature certificates, there are other members of our circle who all deserve more than a passing mention. Therefore, we overstep the bounds of a con- ventional class-legacy, and read what is recorded in the tes- tament for them. To the beauties, Mamie Richmond and Eva Bowe, we present two mirrors, (triple-plated,) — Look, and looking, look again, For thou mayst see what none e ' er saw before