Plainfield High School - Hermiad Yearbook (Central Village, CT)

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W - THE HERMIAD g -L5 EVOLUTION: OF LITERATURE fLucien Bonnin--19291 E' HROUGH long, bewildering centuries, English Literature has given to the masses esthetic guidance, uplifting them from that self-destructive sordidness, giving them ideals to safeguard against retrogression. Even so, in this attainment of high ideals in literature, the inferior contributions of other nations were of vital importance, as links, composing a great, gilded chain. 5 'V Milton inherited from the Greeks his high ideals and delicacy. In Greek writings he also found the sustained sublimity gracing his works. Shakes- peare, however, ran a medium course between preceding literary special- ists, -naturalists, moralists, scientists, and classicists. Learning from his predecessors, he developed into the greatest genius of all time. Subsequent literature is a more or less individual interpretation of principles already embodied in literature, to keep them alive in the minds of men and useful to, humanity. h Thus, I make bold to say, England's rightful claim to supremacy in literary achievement lies in the well developed science of, chronology- briefly, that it antedates other good literature and thus has the attribute of originality. This much will I say for American Literature, it is inferior to England's merely ,in the latter's superiority, not because of any disease or shortcoming in the latter, Even so, its quality is, I fear, sadly underestimated. Let us take into consideration, summarily, the circumstances which influenced W Q' each. f' England, as a world power, has had about fifteen hundred years of development, America is in its infancy. The government of England is a highly efficient, well-perfected mechanismg America is an experiment. In the assimilationof the various racial elements resulting in the Briton of today, Fate-gand Nature cooperated to stamp out ,detrimental qualities and .promote good ones., When the Briton, during the eleventh century, absorbed the Norseman, only the, superior qualities of both races survivedxthe test furnished gratuitouslyby the rugged, stern climate. There existed then a racial antip- athy, even as we observe now, in thexsupposedly superior race toward the inferior-and even vice-versa. f OWU English history fthat just cited and the presentj diier merely in the test which eliminates the evils of assimilation and perpetuates the best qual- ities of each race: in England, it was a physical test, in America, it is a mental test. Whether or not this fact denotes a marked advance is a matter of conjecture, for the sound body of the Briton necessitated a sound mind, whereas the sound mind of the American denotes a sound body. Nevertheless, the Briton physique and mentality has been, hitherto, unsurpassed. Was Providence as element to the founding. of the new Republic? Is the national I 1 .I, V. T' 1,77 Qld A UK , Ig 5 el

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i4 g THE HERMIAD that they take the life of one whom they have hitherto called friend. For instance, there is the case of Macbeth, who, prompted by Lady Macbeth, killed Duncan, King of Scotland. Why? Because he wished to be king, at any 'rate if he didn't wish to be Lady Macbeth, wished him to be, which in some cases amounts to the same thing. Contrast him with our own Abraham Lincoln. How different they are, Macbeth so weak, Lincoln so strong and yet so Weak. By saying Lincoln was weak I do not want you to misunderstand my meaning. He was not weak spirited or wishy-washyg far from that. When I say weak, I mean tender and compassionate. He could not see a bird suffering, much less take a man's life. Nevertheless this great man had his own life taken by the hands of an assassin. Lincoln was strong in doing what he considered right. Immediately after his election in 1860 he chose one of his opponents for an important place in his cabinet. He was not ambitious for personal glory either, but he was ambitious for his country. We know Lincoln as the Savior of the Union. You all probably have heard of A. Parkes Cadman. As a young man he came to the United States from England. He had completed as much of his education as he could get in schoolsg the rest he obtained from experience. This education was by no means easy to obtain for he was obliged to work. When he was nine years old he was working in a mine, hard labor for a man let alone a child. His father was a minister and Dr. Cadman has fol- lowed in his footsteps. We may take an apt quotation from the work that Dr. Cadman teaches, For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. No one could say that Dr. Cadman ever exalted himself yet by his ambition, which is to serve his fellow men no matter what the cost, he is exalted. It works the other way as well, for surely Julius Caesar was exalted, yet by himself, and he was murdered. Macbeth was not the only one who wished to reign, for John Milton tells us that in heaven, Satan, who was then an Archangel, gathered a host of rebel angels and tried to rule. As a result they found themselves thrust out. Nevertheless, Satan's ambition was fulfilled because he said, Here we reign secureg and, in my choice, To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. I hope I have made clear to you some of the types of ambition and the results. We would not be wise to follow in the footsteps of Macbeth, Julius Caesar, or Satan, but it would do us no harm to try and model ourselves somewhat on Abraham Lincoln, or Dr. Cadman, They are both persons to be admired. Theodore Roosevelt, for seven years president of the United States, spoke very truly when he said, The law of worthy life is fundamen- tally strife. It is only through labor, painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.

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is THE HEBMIAD character of the American being properly developed? Will it eventually sur- pass the Briton? The only answer is a shrug, with a Much could be said on either side. But so much will I vouchsafe--a superior literature will herald the coming of a superior race. Why? Because in civilization, as well as in colonization, pioneers penetrate the bewildering hazea, drawing in their wake crowds made eager by pressure exerted from behind. Such a pioneer was Shakespeare, .xx ,J The fact that thei Literature in Embryo of America was conceived under more propitious circumstances is in itself a favorable sign. Hitherto, American literature has been a by-product of greater, more vital activities. Inspired by the Revolution, Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. It occupies a humble place in American Literature, but who can evaluate its importance? How many battles did it win in the Revolution? To what extent is it re ponsible for America's independence and consequently: what does humanity owe it? C-is Similarly did Whittier espouse such a cause and devote himself entirely to the abolition of slavery, thus early did the world at large benefit by American literature. The Transcendentalists, echoes of Omar Kahayyam, failed on a theme so grand, so glorious, that success in its pursuance must be reserved to after times. And so, dropping the tantalizing, deceiving haze of theology, the over- wrought mind finds solace in music and poetry--sprightly music and tripping poetry, and birds and songs and brooks and flowers and the bounties of God heaped on man. Of such a bent was Sidney Lanier's mind. His life is a poem of tragedy and perseverance, beauty and sublimity. Born in a family of musicians, his genius was, nevertheless, outstanding. The calm serenity, the unalloyed happiness of his life as a musician, were blasted by the Civil War. Could a person of his calibre witness his country's defeat! Could he stand by and see his brother slain! Could he shirk! His talent entitled him to more than ordinary consideration, but, had he ignored the call, he had not been the indi- vidual that he was. No. Finding comfort in his music, he shouldered his gun and braved the morass. Constantly with his brother, he faced the danger of warfare, keeping alive with the music of his flute, the beauty of his mind. His brother died during that crisis. Nor was Sidney himself unscathed. The war left him a derelict among derelicts. So strong was his mind that he soon recuperated, but needs be that he fight a constant battle with con- sumption. He had, hitherto, lived as a musician. And what more could one aspire to! But no. Probably because he had mastered so thoroughly and so easily the instrument, he deemed music unworthy to be a vocation,-not serious enough, not manly. Consequently, he turned his attention to literature. In many stanzas do we find the niellow melody of his flute forever crystalized.