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

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26 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. When these were constantly disregarded, light sentences became heavier until the taking of one flower was made punishable by death. Such was the king’s jealous love for his garden. Cornelius, a shoemaker’s son and Lucius, the son of a poor writer of lyric poetry, were born in Rome. The love of one for the other was remarkable. They were inseparable companions. As the two friends were walking down the narrow street one day, Lucius seemed in deep thought. “Bespeak thy mind, Lucius,” urged his chum. “Ah, Cornelius, I was just thinking of the Emperor’s garden behind yonder wall, thinking of the loveliness hidden from the world,” answered Lucius. From his father, the boy Lucius had inherited a great love of the beautiful and his passionate and poetic nature was stamped on his pale face. Cornelius glanced toward the wall and carelessly said, “They say it is a wonderful place.” As the tw r o neared the wall, Lucius stopped to tie the thong of his sandal. Glancing sidewise to reply to a casual remark by Cornelius, he saw in the wall, a tiny crack and a bit of brightness. With a slight cry, Lucius leaped past his friend and peered through the crevice. Amazement, wonder, delight and desire, each in turn passed over the youth’s face. He was filled with a burning longing to possess but one little flower from that glorious mass. “Cornelius ! Look !” Lucius cried. Cornelius knelt down and looked. He saw pale lilies very close to him, smelled the fragrant perfume, but arose little affected. “They are lovely, ’tis true. But let us make haste to dinner before it cools,” remarked the practical Cornelius. After one more look Lucius reluctantly followed his friend. The following day Cornelius found Lucius at the crack in the garden wall. It soon became a daily habit of Lucius to visit the key-hole to wonders. One day Cornelius found his friend in a sorrowful mood with hardly a word for him. “Why art thou so sad?” asked Cornelius sympathetically. “Alas,” said Lucius, “the crack has been discovered and repaired.” Only after much coaxing, Lucius promised to try to forget the haunting flowers. Lucius bravely tried to forget the flowers, but after a week again the in¬ tense longing for the flowers seized him. He grew silent and brooding. “For sooth, what ails the lad?” his father remarked on one occasion. “Indeed, he acts not as a normal boy,” his mother sighed, and then added, “but it may be only a petty quarrel that troubles him.” But gradually Lucius grew weaker until finally he was confined to his bed. His anxious parents were puzzled over his condition. Cornelius also was deeply moved. “He talks much of flowers,” said his mother turning to Cornelius who was tenderly watching Lucius. Of flowers! Then it was the want of the King’s flowers that was gradu¬ ally wasting and weakening his beloved companion. A half an hour later it was a thoughtful, serious boy that softly closed the door of Lucius’ home. Lucius lay staring out of the narrow window, gazing at the moon as she

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 25 PERSEVERANCE. “Who, not content that former worth stands fast, Looks forward, persevering to the last J —W ORDS WORTH. To accomplish anything worth while in this world one must develop per¬ sistence. The power of being able to persevere is one of the greatest assets one may have. We can never aspire to reach the top of the ladder of success unless we do so. There are some who perhaps have half gained the goal of their am¬ bition, but who, lacking the necessary spur of perseverance, fall, only to struggle weakly again and again in vain. Thus it is with the youth of to-day. His ambitions are too lofty to be realized with the amount of perseverance he has. He desires to gain much knowledge with little or no study whatsoever. No one can hope to attain success and good fortune except at the cost of great mental and physical effort; but such a sacrifice is always rewarded, either politically, socially, or spiritually, according to the character of the aim. Men at the head of large corporations must have a great deal of persever¬ ance to keep their business on a firm basis, and to maintain the harmony neces¬ sary in a large corporation in order that success may be assured on all sides. We of the younger generation, who have as yet had no difficult trials to face, do not realize the perseverance necessary to our parents, friends and all others who endeavor to smooth our paths and make our life a success. Instead, we take too much for granted, thinking that this must be done for us and that must be done for us; otherwise our happiness is not complete. There is no one who can make our lives a success for us. That task lies with each one of us. We get out of life exactly as much as we put into it, and no one else can share with us his perseverance, as it was never destined that man should wholly form anyone’s character but his own. That is expecting too much from Life. If we try to lead a good moral life, we shall be rewarded as surely as those who lead an immoral life will receive their just deserts on Judgment Day. The poor man who lives in a modest cottage envies the rich man’s mansion but that is often an injustice to the latter, because many times the moneyed man, especially in America, started on a meagre stipend in his youth and won his fortune by a capacity for sacrifice and perseverance which perhaps the poor man does not possess. And thus it will always continue to be. Only those who persevere through all the trials of life will ever attain success. Florence Boucier, 1925. A FRIENDSHIP IN OLD ROME. The Roman Emperor Augustus was far famed for his extensive flower gardens. Acres and acres of beautiful roses, graceful lilies and rainbows of other flowers filled the air with their exquisite and heavy fragrance. This garden was the Emperor’s delight. A high stone wall completely surrounded it and a score of slaves worked busily each season caring for the flowers. Hitherto people had been allowed to drink in the beauty of the flowers, but crushed forget-me-nots and stolen roses resulted in the making of strict rules.

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 27 glided in and out among the dark murky clouds. Scintillating little stars peeped s ' hyly from the sky at intervals, resembling tiny forget-me-nots. In an overwhelming wave, the memory of the garden swept the slight frame of the lad and the eternal yearning tugged at his heart. Restlessly he turned and muttered incoherently, “Just one little rose or a lily.” When Cornelius entered the home of Lucius the next evening, he looked with dismay and pity at the thin figure and pale face of his friend. An over¬ whelming tenderness swept his strong frame and hastily brushing aside the gath¬ ering tears, he attempted to speak Cheerfully to the sick boy. “Alas, he grows weaker each day,” sadly whispered the mother as Cornelius turned to go. With an effort Cornelius spoke some comforting words and left. “I must do it and I will do it to-night,” said Cornelius to himself, a sudden determination shining in his eyes. Straight to the palace he went. Upon his asking to see the Emperor the guards laughed in his face and roughly pushed him out. A vision of Lucius’ haunting eyes rose before him. He would take a flower. Dear Lucius must be saved. He crept stealthily up to the garden wall. He listened. All was still. His lithe young body swung up over and in to the garden. He plucked a lovely White lily. “Hark! What was that!” “It is only my wildly beating heart,” he assured himself. He stooped to pick a forget-me-not. A heavy hand fell on his shoulder. He was jerked to his feet and brought before the King. “Thou has willfully entered my garden and taken of the flowers. Thou knowest the penalty,” the King said grimly. Falling on his knees, poor Cornelius begged that he might bring the flowers to the poor dying Lucius. “Then I will return,” he said proudly. Finally the King agreed and under guard Cornelius arrived at the home of Lucius clasping tightly the fair prize, so dearly bought. The look of ethereal happiness that swept the worn face of Lucius was reward enough for the brave Cornelius. With a smile Cornelius turned and fol¬ lowed the guards. As the deep rose tinted the horizon at early morn, two souls fled from this gray earth and rose to heaven hand in hand. The one that of a flowerlike inno¬ cent youth, the other that of a brave true friend. Agnes Siipola, 1925.