Northern Oklahoma College - Roundup Yearbook (Tonkawa, OK)

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,-.f-,-- ,gpm ,gre in-L .559 1--:ivf-'aw f The Warriors' Dance Ruth Muskrat, '17 H'rSZ Prize in Poelfy C071 iesz' With the droning hum Of the low tom-tom, And the steady beat of the many feet, With the Wild wierd cry Of the owl near by Came the night of the Warriors' dance. With dark bronze faces, And gorgeous laces, With body straight and stately gait, With black hair streaming, And The The The The black eyes gleaming, Came the warriors to the dance. moonlight beams, camp fiure gleams, tall trees sigh as the wind rushes hyg -squaws smile in pride., At their slow solemn stride, As the Warriors march in the dance, There is happiness there, Joy fills the air, They have forgot their hapless lot, They are kings once more As in days of yore, As they swing to the Warriors' dance. 138

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Five-f24 '-f-.-ali, 32,1 - ffm .if . 1:14.15 ,Ii bb 4 wg salt fy' power, with Misery, Crime, and Poverty crouching at their feet and filling the air with wailing cries of desperation. The pale, haggard face of Despair was turned toward us for a moment, and then again swept along with that seething, suffering mass of humanity. I could endure the awful scene no longer, covering my face with my hands, I cried aloud, Oh, God, can all this be possible? At that moment, a mighty shout rent the air, the darkness deepened, and by the glare of the burning city-our fair City of Tomorrowkwe could plainly see the triumphant King and his faithful allies viewing the work of destruction with stony and expressionless faces. Shrill cries arose above the noise and confusion, Come, let us get away from this awful scene! I cried, and catching my little guide by the hand, we sped swiftly on, away from the doomed city, We ran on and on until almost exhaustedg at last we reached the edge of a mighty precipice, tower- ing above a yawning chasm. We hesitated but a moment, and jumped. Down, down, down we fell, until- I awoke. The schoolboys, glad of their freedom, were laughing and shouting merrily in the street. My book had dropped to the floor, and I was sitting in a cramped and uncomfortable position .in the Old Chair On the P01'Ch- I Tubbefl my eyes and gazed around to make sure where I was, for it seemed hard to realize that the experiences I had just undergone had been only visionary. I sat thinking and think- ing until the world was clothed in darkness, and all was still. Was it merely a vision? 137

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ar , T V- W it up .-. ,, ,'. f t f. ifane I f J .ag ,ii The Vision Glorious Nina Olmstead, '16 There are two kinds of iight, the light on the higher side of darkness and the light beyond the darkness. Whether we never see any light at all, or whether we are blinded by the dazzling gleam of pleasure or wealth on this side of darkness, 01' whether we 'fear the toils that lead through the veils and mists of doubt, C.r whether, overcoming all of these we get the vision glorious of gt life cf servzce beyond-depends wholly on ourselves. We must press on through the dark- ness and the terror of it if we would reach the light beyond, not however, like the fool- ish insects attracted to the dazzling blaze only to be drawn to destruction by the in- tensity of its flame, but like plants that lean to the light, to fill our lives' with meaning ing and our souls with power. There are two kinds of men who never penetrate the gloom-the men, who held down by a sordid existence never suspect the presence of the light at all, and the men, who dazzled by the light on this side of darkness, never know the full beauty of the re- gion beyond. Unfortunate the man who has never set his face toward the light-who will not see it, the man to whom neither earth nor heaven 'convey the pure unsordid message of the ideal, the man whose light is dimmed by a baffling struggle within the narrow and present confines of this existence. His motives are measured in dollars and cents, his children are worthless to him until large enough 'to engage in remunera- tive labo-r. To him every reverse of fortune brings bitterness-the failure of a crop or an unfavorable market, temporary ill-health in the family-these things and many like them obscure his poor day and leave him groping in his small dungeon-like sphere. The world matters not to him and he recognizes no demands from the worldg he has never acknowledged that every individualvis the center of all that surrounds him and has an unlimited space of action. Tell him he has robbed 'the world of a generous mind and heart, of the power to do its work, of a sympathy to bear its burdens, of determi- nation to effect its reforms, and he will laugh at your folly. Was he not born unto himself and there to die? Equally unfortunate the man, who flattered by the offer of a good position before he is fitted for a life work, or attracted by the lure of pleasure, mistakes the glory of the nearby splendor for the real life in the realm beyond, who allows self-gratification of the desire for wealth to be the ruling motive iin his life. Too apt we are to' leave the quest of the Holy Grail for the quest of the wherewithal to gratify our foolish tastes and whims. If we can but surmount that intensely interesting period when the lure of fortune or ambition is most powerful, and the joy of the game of living pleads strongest for gratification, without committing 501119 i1'1'GD-Mable fO11y5 if W6 C2111 but see, even if dimly, the true vision, we will have spared to the world one more servant to do his part toward making it grander and better. ' 1 V Happy indeed is the man who retains this vision clarified and pure, who realinzes that he has a m'ssion to perform-a responsibility to his fellowmen which requires time and effort in preparing himself for the larger usefulness of brotherhood as well as self-preservation. He will not permit his life to be circumscribed by ungenerous preparation. His mind will cease to be filled with trade and commerce and other al- lurements so as tg preclude the culture oi mind, body, and soul., From 8 to 12 years after the young person has completed his eommonnschool education must be spent in equipping himself for the really great positions in life. There can be-no quick way to success. The right power of achievement like all other noble tli1n.SS 15 bought WY1U1.?l great price. The man who realizes this necessity will examine his powers, decide in what way he may serve in larger usefulness the whole human fHYU11Y, and .then he will Drepmel For every person has a talent and can find it, and once -realizing its pres-, . 1 S . d t to develop it Neglect of it means death. There is no talent that ence ia a. u y Y , 1 Comes unagked, there is' no grace of mind and heart that stays unurged. Happy indeed 139