Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 17 our masterpieces or works of art, for the writers of much of the war poetry did not allow their passions to cool before noting their thoughts in verse. In “Songs from the Trenches,” a collection of verses written in France by the American Soldiers, one observes that the subjects with which these writers dealt are many and wide in scope, for all minds did not turn to deep or profound thoughts and dwell with lofty subjects among the clouds of inspired imagination. A great many of these writers kept to surface thoughts, dealing with the disagree¬ able or humorous experiences in camp and trench life, though many more sang of the sunset, the beauty of patriotism, or the courage of France and her great loss. One soldier voices the emotion of his comrades in “Farewell, America!” as they watch their native land fade from sight, while “the mist that rises is not rain.” Some feel themselves to be tiny units in a gigantic whole and yet units giving to the utmost of their service, as evidenced in one private’s lines. “Only a Number.” Many, doubtless with little ones in America, sing to the unfortunate child victims of the war, as does the writer of the following lines which close his poem inspired by the sight of a tombstone raised in honor of two small children who had died long before the war: “Rest you, Pierre and Jucundine, On your little grave, serene; Rest you till the Judgment blast Brings the Hun to book at last— Calls the Hun to answer for Wrongs to children done in war! Wrongs you’ve neither known nor seen, Happy Pierre and Juncundine!” Passing to those of more humorous trend, one finds that the army fare forms the basis for many verses, as does “the personification of Fate, the redoubtable Censor man.” By far the greater number of poems, however, express a depth of patriotism which could have been born of experience alone. The majority of the writers re¬ joice that the glory of a death on the battlefield should be theirs. This feeling is reflected in the poem, “Facing the Shadows” by Private Grundish, winner of the first prize offered in the New York Herald’s Literary Competition in which were a thousand entries. “Better in one ecstatic epic day To strike a blow for Glory and Truth With ardent, singing heart to toss away In Freedom’s holy cause my eager youth, Than bear as years pass one by one, The knowledge of a sacred task undone.” Before passing on to the poetry of Alan Seeger and Robert Service, let us pause to listen to the voices of some of those writers who more nearly reach the goal of perfection and whose poems are more apt to succeed as works of art. We hear Kipling in his poem “The Choice” in which he imagines the spirit of America making her “eternal choice between good and evil” : “In the Gates of Death rejoice! We see and hold the good— Bear witness, Earth, we have made our choice For Freedom’s brotherhood.”

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16 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. Through the appreciation and knowledge of English may be derived the gen¬ eral culture and pleasure of life. What sadder plight is there than to be compelled to remain silent because of inability to express properly one’s thoughts. Who lacks the art to shape his thought, hold, Were little poorer if he lacked the thought ” Statistics prove that those remaining in school longest have the best chances of securing employment. This in itself should serve as an incentive to those now in school to pursue their studies and complete their courses. Undergraduates, to you especially is this appeal made. Persevere in your lessons and even if at times the outlook it not rosy, continue to labor until you reach the long desired goal. Until that time comes when your education must be completed, you will not realize how fortunate you have been in securing one. Carpe dievi. For of all this earth’s pos¬ sessions an education is the most priceless one. Rita M. Daigle, ’21. SALUTATORY. POETRY OF THE WAR. As a member of the class of 1921 I wish to extend to you all a cordial wel¬ come. It is a great pleasure for us to have you with us to-night and to show our parents and our teachers that their efforts in our behalf have not been in vain. I feel that it is just as much of a pleasure to them to know that we have successfully completed our High School work through their ever-willing aid and guidance. We are about to take up the duties of life, of which we know little but from which we do not shirk. Through the efforts of parents, friends, and teachers we have been able to gain a training which puts assurance into ' our hearts that we shall gain success in life. However, school-days will be a lasting memory in the minds of every one of us, and not without the greatest pleasure shall we look back upon them. In approaching the serious moments of our lives, we naturally think of the serious happenings in the lives of others. The Poetry of the War. Though the great war has passed and now men’s thoughts are turned to more peaceful pursuits in life, one cannot but think when in a serious mood of the boys . who died to give us the happiness which we have today. We cannot know of the agonies and indescribable tortures which they were made to endure or of the glory and thrill of patriotism with which they fought the foe. It is only through the poetry written in the supreme moments of their lives and when their emotions and passions were highest that we learn of their true thoughts and feelings. The war poetry reveals the souls of those brave lads and shows us that they were instilled with patriotism and faith in God, and that their hungry minds cry¬ ing out for the beauty and blessedness of peace sought and found solace in their poetry. It brings us to understand them and fills us with a greater sense of patriot¬ ism and duty to God than ever could have come to us if they had not met their trials as they did. In reading over the various verses written by many different soldier-authors of the two great English-speaking nations,, one is reminded of Wordsworth’s fa¬ mous definition of poetry as “emotion recollected in tranquillity.” Many of the soldiers wrote their poems while in the heat of passion and when the message to be delivered was far more important to them than the style or form in which it was written. In many instances there is not that tranquillity which is to be found in

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18 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. Again we hear him urging England, and indirectly her allies, to make “iron sacrifice of body, will, and soul” that the world may conquer the foes which, as Drinkwater says in his poem “We Willed It Not,” have thrown to God the “tumult of their blasphemies.” I regret that there is little opportunity to speak of the poetry of Lawrence Binyon whose praise of Edith Cavell and her “soul so crystal clear” rises into the realms of true poetry, as well as his lines “To the Fallen” who are as the stars “that shall be bright when we are dust.” Especially interesting to Americans is Alan Seeger, since he was the first American soldier-poet to lose his life in France. Three weeks after the b eginning of the war he joined the Foreign Legion. It is interesting to read that because of his aloofness and reserve he was highly unpopular with his comrades, who voted that he be requested to transfer himself to another division, which, however, he re¬ fused to do. In this he is in direct contrast with the well loved Kilmer, whose works will be taken up by a later speaker. His literary efforts during the war are centered in a few short poems for there was little leisure time in army life to devote to writing, and though these may not equal, from the standpoint of workmanship, those he published before the war, there is no doubt but what they will be dearer to the hearts of men and just as widely read. The first poem written while he was in France was a vivid descrip¬ tion of the battle of the Aisne 1914-15 in which w e find the thought inspired with¬ in him by the war: “There we drained deeper the deep cup of life, And on sublimer summits came to learn, After soft things, the terrible and stern, After sweet Love, the majesty of Strife.” His last but best loved and hence best known poem is entitled “I Have a Rendezvous with Death.” This poem seems to be a premonition of his death which occurred a short while later and took from the world a man whose possi¬ bilities were very great and whose death caused a loss to the literary world which cannot be estimated. As we all know, he kept his “Rendezvous.” “God knows ’twere better to be deep Pillowed in silk and scented down, But I’ve a rendezvous with death At midnight in some flaming town, When Spring trips north again this year, And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous.” As Seeger’s work is finished, likewise is ended the labor of the Canadian Lieu¬ tenant-Colonel John McCrae. His poem “In Flanders Fields” is perhaps the most widely read and admired of the war verses. In this poem he hears the mes¬ sage of the dead whose voices urge the living to carry on: “We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved; and now we lie In Flanders Fields.