Peru High School - Narcissus Yearbook (Peru, IN)

Page 32 text:

some happy home not far away there comes through the soft shutth to your eur the note of :11iiuuo, intertwined hy the silver 1elody 0t 21 wiolir or some other iustrluueut. The dissouauees ure dri 1 Aled and the hur 111ouy is syreeteued het'ore it, reaches your ear. for itisi-ord: will no travel fur. and distuuee lends ellt'lltllltlllcllt not only to sight, hut sound. You listen 211111 the rey'erie hegius. The tune is not rt familiar one, but it is :1 meet one and charms you hy its hezruty. The music, goes on. but your thoughts fro fuster. Bareluvurtt they go, over h11'ied years. over graves of dear companions, over the ashes of many 21 desire that hy its own energy t,tousuiumt itself; over 1 eeks ot' xife-pluus and the dust of withered hopes-oyer till the v rrows the joys. 2111 the mis- ehauiees and the happy fortunes your .it'ee-hzuzkwirrd, huekymrd, to the hright 4 of your 1 tihooil. when the heart knew no trouhle; to th . : when 1' mother held you in her ztrlus iuut sungr some soo .iiie' t i :1 aseil the lips that had not yet parted to utter falsehood or loiihigss. U th teuother! The strains of music whieh you :1re listening wiuil themselves through :111 your thoughts of her. and you 112111 iezrr that song of songs you heard her sing uhoy'e your eru- dle. 211111 then it seems to he the plaintive iuiuor they ehzuited at her tu- neml. You have eezised to think other tuuerzil now; you hare resigned yourself to the spell that it is wearing:1rouuil you. 'lthrough :111 thethiu Vistas of that springtime of your life it lezutsyou: it hriugs you hetore the 112111111'21iiiti of your t'lliltlllontl sports thzit haye pussetl away like the dew of morning; it hriugs huek the seasons when your eouseieuve was so teu- der and your yezrruiue's utter :1 hotter lite was strong. Uh. why do the tears rt111,111'opl1y' drop. upon the window sill? chy does your spirit heut its wings against its prison wulls :llltl long to My huek to that vhihhsh paradise? Augelsi xy'iug's huy'e heeu hoveringurouutl you zuid the slieeeh of angels has been sounding in your euirs. A1111 so it is through lite. You will lilltt musie taking you hy the hand 211111 lending you through liehts ol' Illetliffttittll, eluding you for your faults and follies zuid pointing; you to ;1 hetter future. It is 11111 iutlueuee whose potency for good or ey'il We are not likely to oV'er-raite. For good or evil, I say, for While, like :111 good things that Hod has given us, it, OP, .4.

Page 31 text:

that went to the soul 111111 11111'1'ie11 with it, some pluses of the pathos with whie1 the poetry 'YElS sureharged. '11111111 you c wor11s 111 the 111111111111 1111 the Rhinef 1131211'He11111158.11 111111 our ow11 1111111 11St111'51111111g1e111311111111191stirring though they he. would eVer rouse the 111111111111'e 111' these respeetive 11111111111151 to sueh :1 fury of e11thusiax111 as that whieh 1111s 111'te1111ee11 seen at the 1111t11re11k of war. if these 11'111-11s11111111eeusi111111yreeite11i' 1t SPHIIIS 1111sur11 to think of men 1111111: 111111ut 111511111 t11111111tu1111s 1111.18.111111 sawing over. with howeVer 111111'11 111111155'11111, 111e111or11111e wor11s 111' these 111111115. It is a tame1-11111'e11tio11. But When we 1111111 111' 11'e1l11111gt11ese 111,11 wor11s to thri111ug'musi1' 111111 put them . to the 11111111115 111' t11eeX1aite11 11111111- tu11e that surges to 111111 111 we w1 1er1111t11t the lier' e 111111111111itw' 111111 the terr1111e earnestness 111' 51111111 111 e 1111111111 11:11 But if We 1111151 1111t11111i111 for 11 ' 111111111 ti , 1it111' 111'11111111111g these 11'111111er1'111 ettevts. We 111an Ml ., tha 'e s othiug whieh will 5.1111: sueh 1von11erful do 1 as 1.1 sic win; 1111.1t it .s 11 powerful auxiliary 111 the utterance of any stirring truth. But it is true also that wonderful etteets are often produced 111' 11111511: alone, 1111111t1o111111111ie11 11y 11111115,.disconnected 1111111 1111 111e111ories 111111 11seo1-i11tious. You go into 11 11111111 where you never Were before and hear 11 line orchestra play 11 sy111phouy you never heard 11etore. You listen amid the rwavering vistasH delighted 111111 entranced. It seems that heaven is near and the angels are hoxeriuer around you. Words there are none: it is musie 111111113. The soft. llowiug 111e1o11y earries you 1111 like the current of 1111 enchanted riVer; the plaintiVe strains steal into your heart 111111 the tears 141,1111e 111111w11res; the quick, 1111111 11111rti111 1111,11, 1111e11t begins, and you 181111 forward thrilled 111111 ex11ite11; you grasp the , glat 111 front of you 111111 if it Were, 11 sword you would grasp it 1111 the more firmly. You go forth with 1111 your 1'1111111ties aroused to 111111'1111t1e11activ- 11y. The ettect abides 11111111 you for hourse-J'or days 1111111111; your every day life is brighter 111111 switter. Your business 111111-1111es with the strains that are ringing thr111ugh your 11111111111112 AH 111' this was wrought in you 11y 111lisic,e11y the succession of sweet 111111 stirring sounds. You sit down 113' your window 111 the twilight of evening, 111111 from 28

Page 33 text:

ought always to serve Him and help to draw people to better life it can he perVel'tetl to the lim'est uses, The fallen angelsae well as the nnl'all- en make :t to ser nrposes. It t'llzll'lllS inunyzttmiilish youth into plan ve tll'lll mule. illltl it sets its lure in the house of her Y'ht t tops takel NeVeI'theless. t se of it do not tllHt'l'Btllt its mei'etlness or its value. lts ttlulh'e i hat it has more nohle uses. And what hasheensztitl eoneernha makes room for the proposition that it is the otlitre of nnlsit'. or liten. , to arouse onr higher wnsiluilitiem to assist in the t'tnllllllllllt'tttlttll o the higher form of ti'ntln to he the meth- 11111 through which spiritual ideas and impressions are vonwyed to our nli1nls.for nnisie antl literature go hantl in haml-that is, literatureprop- er. not tlitlat'tie tllStJtJlll'He, hut literature that has thatinspiration uhont it that arouses one to higher possibilities. No one l'llti has a shallow oi' tlimiant nature can he a lllllSlt'lttll or a, poet. Mnsiv has to do with inta 'ile. invisible 'it w thing '11 that plays upon lnnnan souls ant makes the '21' is bright. happy, noble-resolx'etl or joyous, innsie exp eat power. hnt evil lies outside its domain. It is lllllltlSSlbl ml sing or play at the same time. A happy chiltl sings as it l +nt- edly. hut the song ceases when tlisvontent takes 1th. 3. So t is in t wry- onek lite. songr illltl sunshineq evil and tliseontent. Now a few words about the nature of singing. then we sing we must sing with the spirit that will move the world alongfi XVe must try to make the sentiment of the words our own. antl utter it, not only With intelligence. but with fervor. lVe must put our souls into our songs. If we sing in the gallery, in the t'hoir-hox, in the street. anywhere, we must feel that 0111' great business is to make those who are 0111' auditors feel the truth and beauty of the WOI'tlS we are uttering. A leading singer in one of our metropolitan elnn'ehes, Whose name is well known in America and Europe, said once with great seriousness: I always had twolessons to teach my people on Sundays. and l always taught them as well as l eonltlf' No one who ever heard hersing could doubt what she said. She tlltl make the words she sang her own and they went right home to the hearts of all who heard her. Once in Eng- 30