Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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The Mary Baldwin Seminary. 15 Her lovely face all smiling shows, And soft and sweet the south wind blows. The sailor lad brings down his boat And once afloat With sails outspread, he spurns the land ; The herds no longer idle stand. The farmer too forsakes his hearth ; The fallow earth, From snow and chilling hoar-frost free, Brings forth her fruit abundantly Now in low hanging Luna ' s light, Doth Venus bright, With Nymphs and graces, hand in hand, Join in the dance a merry band. Now comes the sound of anvil ' s blow And in the glow. Of Cyclops ' forges Vulcan stands. A lifted hammer in his hands. And it is meet to deck the brow With flowers now Or wreath of myrtle from the fields : A wealth of green the glad earth yields. Now should we in some syloam nook, By babbling brook. A sacrifice to Faunus kill A lamb or kid, which e ' er he will. Alas ! pale Death knocks at the door Of rich and poor ; To all comes his impartial tread. To all he shows his visage dread. Go thou, and come another day, In vain we pray. In vain we murmur : life ' s brief scope Denies us long account with hope

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14 The Animal of Ah, well, it is our fixed opinion that there were giants in those days, and that, take us all in all, you ne ' er shall look upon our like again. We can make a shrewd guess that there are many things in which six years ' time has not made so great a change, We should be willing to wager that as soon as spring holidays were over, you began to make elaborate (and probably, incor- rect) mathematical calculations as to the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds which must elapse before coti- mencement — just as we used to do. You have the same wicked feelings which we used to have, when you get a letter from home reminding you ttiat this is the happiest time of your life, which letter usually reaches you just as you are about to go into the horrors of a Latin final — and when you feel any- thing but happy. (I don ' t express all I feel on the subject of Latin finals. because I ' m afraid that Miss Strickler might see this). You are also practicing the same solos, duos, quar- tettes and octettes which we used to practice, and you are tak. ing care of your larynxes, as we used to do. in order that you, as we, may pass, in singing, like the swan. You medal girls are practicing the sweet start of surprise, with which you will greet the announcement that you won the blue ribbon, for you did not expect it. Oh, no ! Neither did we. So you see it would not take us so very long to become acquainted, after all, and I certainly hope that time will bring us the opportunity to do so, individually, if not collectively. Miss Strickier has suggested that I .say something about our beautiful spring, but I cannot think of anything to say on that subject quite so good as what Horace said in his Ode to Sestius, of which I made the following very free, and very rough translation one day when the balmy weather so warmed the cockles of my heart that, like Mr. Wegg, I felt like drop- ping into poetry. I give it becau.se you are all familiar with it, the fourth in the first book of Odes, you remember, and be- cause it is seasonable. TO SESTIUS. Now is the strength of Winter past And Spring, at last,

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1 6 The Annual of O Sestius, thou art happy now, But on thy brow, The icy hand of death is laid, And soon thou ' lt be in Pluto ' s shade. In that dark realm, no more thou ' lt sing, Nor, careless, fling The dice, no more thou ' lt be, The King of wine and revelry. ROSELLE MERCIER. April 1 6, 1897. Augusta, Ga. TAMING OF THE SHREW. Taming of the Shrew, one of Shakespeare ' s most popular comedies, is a very amusing account of the taming of a wild, self-willed girl. The scene is laid in Padua. Shakespeare seemed to be fond of laying the scenes of his plays in Italy. There was a rich old gentleman of Padua, called Baptista, who had two daughters. The elder of these, was Katharina, or Kate the Shrew, as she was more commonly called , and Bianca her sister was noted for her beauty and gentleness. How diiferent was Kate ! Her very name, the Shrew, shows for what she was noted. Bianca had very many admirers, but Baptista, father-like, would not consent to Bianca ' s marrying, until her sister was married. For, was she not the elder? Bianca ' s suitors, Gremio, Hortensio, and Lucentio, were in despair. They certainly could not recommend Kate to any one for a wife. She thought nothing of railing at one and pulling his ears for him, or striking him with anything that happened to be near. Now, although she did treat people in this style, she was quite jealous of the attention paid her sister. At last some one appeared on the scene, who was willing to marry Kate with all her reputation, in order that he might