Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

Page 30 text:

deavouring to express its ideas in partnership with all those, of any age, who are endeavouring to build the fairer future. To the graduating class of Pickering College, 1930, we wish f'God-speed. Claim for yourselves your heritage, demand the partnership that is rightfully yours, but do so with intelligence and above all, with tolerance. You will make mistakes but you will profit by your experience. Shun, above all things, a commonplace acceptance of things as they are and go forward, determined to do your share in building the new Jerusalem. Though the way may be difficult, accept it as your lot and as one, husbanding the spirit of eternal youth, be ready to cry, even with failing breath,- 'Learn, nor account the pang, dare, never grudge the three. J. M. C. The New Poet Laureate UST as we go to press the appointment is announced of Mr. John Mase- iield to the position of poet laureate, vacated by the recent death of Robert Bridges. Although we do not pose as a journal of literary criticism, this appointment seems to us to be of such significance that we cannot help but allow ourselves the privilege of saying a few words concerning it, even at the risk of being considered Hhigh-brow or trespassing in fields not properly our own. In the days of the court singers, from which position that of poet laureate is undoubtedly descended, it was both seemly and advisable that the triumphs of the 'Nation 's heroes, should be sung in verse, that might, or might not, last, but which would serve the purpose of keeping green the memory of national exploits in the minds of an almost wholly illiterate populace. With the spread of literacy this justification for the appointment of an official national bard has disappeared and unless the poet laureate is going to do more than, in the words of Gibbon 'ffurnish twice a year a measure of praise and verse such as may be sung in the presence of the sovereign there can be no further real reason for continuing a tradition that has lasted since the reign of Henry VII, twho appointed the first official laureate.j Certain it is that the new poet laureate is no singer of an outworn im- perialism, he sings of his own background and the people whom he knows- of Hall sorts and conditions of men -of the masses who have seldom had any lyrical voice to give articulation to their hopes and aspirations, their illusions and their disappointments. He has been described as 'a poet of the soil and the sea and of the men who dig and heave.' Although a Labour government can hardly expect re-election on the grounds of any such com- paratively minor appointment, it is almost dramatically appropriate that as the oiiicial singer of the nation, Ramsay Macdonald should have recommended to the King a truly great poet, whose career had its humble beginnings on the sea, as a saloon porter and a hand at a dollar a day in a carpet factory. The English language may have sweeter singers but certainly, in England, there is none who speaks more competently for the masses who are the nation than does Masefield. Listen to his 'fConsecration',:- Net of the princes and prelates with periwifgged eharioteers Ifzdzng trinmplzantly laurelled to lap the fat of the years-- Rather the scorned-the rejected-the men hemmed in with the spears. -. N26 .f

Page 29 text:

Yowthis Heritage . Therefore, I summon age to grant youtlzls' lzeritage.H N the history of the world there has probably never yet been a. generation of time-worn elders that did not look upon the youth of its day as stubborn, wilful and foolishly impervious to the wisdom of experienced age, there was certainly never yet a generation of impetuous youth that did not look upon its seniors as hidebound, obstructive and effetef'-from an editorial in The Times, London. The above quotation is a statement of an ever-present fact, a recognition of the gulf that remains as a yawning abyss between the complacency of the adult, anaesthetized to change and immune from doubt and fearfulness, and the impetuousness of the youth, ever-ready for new experiences and with a frolic welcome for adventure no matter in what sphere it may lie or whither it may lead. In previous generations the rebellion of youth was Csometimesj more veiled and indirect. But to-day youth is frankly sceptical of the wisdom of ex- perience and asks boldly for the right to steer its own course and the privilege of making its own mistakes. At any rate, they will be their own. In asking this, they ask no more than is their rightful heritage. No doubt, it is wholly natural that age, looking back over its own tem- pestuous passage should seek to sparc youth as many as possible of the trials and the difficulties that have beset its own path, to do so, however, is to rob youth of the very conditions of its growth. Struggle and pain are not all loss but are the necessary opportunity for the testing of the soul and the develop- ment of all permanent strength of character. Each successive generation must, prove for itself every dogma, every precept which it will accept. We do not hold any brief for those of the present younger generation who rudely and unnecessarily offend the prejudices and susceptibilities of the older generation, nor do we claim forbearance for those who use this argument as a cloak for their own selfish indulgence without regard for the feelings and rights of others: but we do bespeak for the thoughtful and sincere who are earnestly seeking to find their way in the complex maze of present-day life, not only the tolerance and sympathy, but also the encouragement of those who have trod the path before them. That there are some who appreciate the problem we may well be thankful. Barrie, in his classic address to the students of St. Andrew 's Iiniversity, spoke as follows: 'fMy own theme is Courage, as you should use it in the great fight that seems to me to be coming between youth and their betters. I want you to take up this position: that youth have for too long left exclusively in our hands the decisions in national matters that are more vital to them than to us. Things about the next war, for instance, and why the last one ever had a beginning .... So forward, brave hearts. To what adventures I cannot tell but I know that your God is watching to see whether you are adventurous. . . . We are already seeking cushions for our old bones rather than attempt- ing to build up a, fairer future .... You have more in common with the youth of other lands than youth and age can ever have with each other. For such genuine understanding youth is most appreciative and it only asks that this sa.me spirit should become more prevalent at a time when it is en-. -. 'N25'

Page 31 text:

Not the ruler for me, but the ranher, the tramp of the road, The slave with the sack on his shoulders pricked on with the goad, The man with too weighty a burden, too weary a load. Others may sing of the wine and the wealth and the mirth, The portly presence of potentates goodly in girth- Mine be the dirt and the dross, the dust and scum of the earth. Theirs be the music, the colour, the glory, the gold: Mine be a handful of ashes, a mouthful of mould, Of the maimed, of the halt and the blind in the rain and the Cold- Of these shall my song.s be fashioned, my tales be told. It is not because he loves the Cdirt and dross' that he writes about them but because he sees a vision of butterflies and petals from an unseen world of beauty that continues to gleam ahead as a possible goal of achievement for all those whose lives are cast in drudgery and squalor, in the dust and scum of the earth. And because he is an authentic poet, and a poet of the common people, he not only brings honour to a purely honorary position but may be expected to express in music a programme which a government can at best express in terms of an economic idiom. To John Masefield, poet laureate, we look for a spiritual interpretation of those human values which are being so largely accepted in this day as most Worthy of consideration. y -H. M. Concerning Things Academic HE entire student body would join in thanking each master for working so earnestly in directing the various academic departments. VVe go to school primarily for the pursuit of knowledge and hence the masters are largely responsible for any success the school has had. Mr. Taylor Statten has also given untiring service as a counselor in guiding our character training a.nd vocational adjustments. As students, we find ourselves in a rather diflicult position in attempting to make any criticism of the educational system to which we are expected to apply the better part of our youthful years. We recognize quite well that our elders who have made an intelligent study of causes and effects are much more capable of judgment. However, regardless of our immaturity, there are many obvious faults which can be understood even by a first form student and in addition, fortunately or unfortunately, we are continually exposed to an increasing number of magazine articles criticizing the present methods of education. Not so very long ago school attendance was nothing more than torture to many a young lad mainly because of the harsh methods of a teacher possessing an entirely wrong type of personality and temperament. This has been largely done away With in recent years but still there are many pupils who will do work only when threatened with punishment or Hwatch-dog supervision. Surely the blame cannot be placed wholly upon the student. Why is it not possible by a few carefully planned changes in the subject material and in the method of presentation to arouse a keen interest in the mind of the most indifferent type of student? This would further take into consideration the - N27 ' f