Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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26 The Aiigicsfa Seminary Annual. crawled through the window, and in a minute had left the Seminary far behind him. When he made his report at the next meeting of the Folk- Lore Society, he received a vote of thanks for having contributed such valuable and carefully tabulated informa- tion to the cause of science. ' ' Carrie Bell. Lowell. From Our Note Books. Since last August w hen the news of Lowell ' s death went over the land, we have taken an especial interest in all that conc erns him. A look of pleasure may be seen on each face when it is suggested that we read what he has to say on the subject in hand, for after spending a few hours over one of his essays we feel as though we had taken a pleasant holiday. During the year we have read a number of his literary criticisms, mainly, the essays in Amoig My Books and My Study Window, and as we have been impressed with now his wit and now his eloquence, have jotted down in our note-books what we thought were some of the choicest pas- sages. From these note-books we have selected for The Anmial a few of those passages that we would like to keep as a memento of our Literature work, and have arranged them under the headings of the essays from w hich they are taken ; we wish they might give others the pleasure they have given us. Note — .We regret that the Boston daemon was not here on May day to learn that under a stone lifted that morning may be found the color of the prospective sweet heart ' s hair, and that the face washed in dew at sunrise on the same day will always be beautiful. — Eds.

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The Aui itsla Seminary Annual . So When tlicy came back from walkinjr, Violet and her friend were starting for the Terrace, as half a dozen girls rushed wp, and in excited tones said that there was a young gentlemen in the parlor waiting to see her. Oh, I wonder who it can be, she cried, and rushed away so quickly that she reached the parlor, and slammed the door behind her before the dcemon thought of following her. The transom was closed, and the key was in the key- hole, so nothing was left him to do but to return to his old post on Violet ' s bedroom screen, and wait for her arrival. Half an hour later, she rushed into the room with flush- ed cheeks, shining eyes, and a letter in her hand. Oh, Jennie, she cried breathlessly to her room-mate, he did have on a red cravat, and he brought me a letter from home; I ' ll never say again that I don ' t believe in signs. Well, laughed Jennie, supper-bell rang five minutes ago, so you ' re bound to be late, and you ' re just going to catch it for skipping practicing this evening — do you call that good luck? Oh, well, said Violet carelessly, I knew I was go- ing to have some bad luck to-day, for I ' ve had lots of un- lucky signs. Half past nine found this sweet girl, with hair ready for bed, looking behind the screen, in the wardrobe, and under the bed to make sure that no man, on burglary intent, was lurking in any of these hiding places. She turned off the gas, then felt her way to the window. I wonder if it is worth while to count ni} stars ! the daemon heard her say. I know now who le is but I guess I ' d better make assur- ance doubly sure. So she counted the same seven stars, looked at the new moon over her right shoulder and made a wish, then, without speaking, walked backward to her bed, and fell asleep to dream of hairpins and white horses, pin points and stars, kissing books and red neck-ties, until the rising-bell next morning should arouse her to the routine of another day. The daemon waited until ten clock, when all the lights were out, and silence brooded over the Seminary, then with a farewell look about the room, he dropped from the screen,

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The Augusta Seminary Antiual. 27 Chaucer. There are certain points of resemblance and contrast be- tween Dante and Chaucer. With Dante, life represented the passage of the soul from a state of nature to a state of grace. ' ■ ' With Chaucer, life is a pilgrimage, but only that his eye may be delighted with the varieties of costume and charac- ter. ' ■■ With Dante the main question is the saving of the soul, with Chaucer it is the conduct of life. Dante applies himself to the realities, Chaucer to the scenery of life, and the former is consequently the more universal poet, as the latter is the more truly national one. Dante represents the justice of God, and Chaucer his loving-kindness. Gower has positively raised tediousness to the precision of science, he has made dulness an heirloom for the students of our literary history. His best tales (Chaucer ' s) run on like one of our inland rivers, sometimes hastening a little and turning upon them- selves in eddies that dimple without retarding the current ; sometimes loitering smoothly, while here and there a quiet thought, a tender feeling, a pleasant image, a golden -hearted verse, opens quietly as a water-lily, to floaton thesurface with- out breaking it into ripples. The vulgar intellectual palate hankers after the titillation of foaming phrase, and thinks nothing good for much that does not go off with a pop like a champagne cork. The mellow suavity of more precious vintages seems insipid: but the taste, in proportion as it re- fines, learns to appreciate the indefinable flavor, too subtle for analj ' sis. A manner has prevailed of late in which every other word seems to be underscored as in a school-girl ' s letter. Spenser. A classic is properl} ' a book which maintains itself by virtue of that happy coalescence of matter and style, that innate and exquisite sympathy between the thought that gives life and the form that consents to every mood of grace