Rogers Hall School - Splinters Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

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Life Does Repeat Itself Tell me, is it the same? Are the thorny roses still tangled about the river bank Like men locked in a bloody death-struggle? And are the forget-me-nots still wandering aimlessly through the fields, Crushed pitilessly by the small flying feet Which once stepped lovingly over them? And on a rainy day, does the air still smother one with grass, earth and flower- As it did, once, long ago? And, tell me, are youthful dreams still caught woven in the river-glass Against an unfurrowed azure sky, black in the distance? And in that black distance, are those idylls still crushed ruthlessly by the life Which once so carefully nurtured them, And smothered by the choking, dust-filled blanket of fate- As were mine, once, long ago? BETH MCGOVERN '63 Conservation of Matter Life deteriorates into dust. Dust is trampled upon By Civilization. But these clouds of dust rise And then are swept away Into Eternity. NANCY SQANNBLL '63

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Black and White Tongue of adder, Heart of Lamb, All these things and more I am Whenever I draw a breath. I love life, desire deathg Young, yet withered, Old, untorn, Wise enough of life to scorn, Warm optimist, Preserveg Merry-free with words and terse. I'm Whitey I'm black. A portion day, a portion night. CONNPB TUCKER '63

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Henry James Hugh Walpole once said that Henry Iarnes was a quite legendary figure, a sort of sniffed wax- work from whose mouth a stream of coloured sentences, like winding rolls of green and pink paper, are forever issuing. ' This legendary figure of Irish and Scottish ancestry was born in New York on April 15, 1843. His father, Henry james, Sr., was a follower of Swedenborg and a remarkable writer on questions of theology. His elder brother, William james, was a distinguished philosopher and psy- chologist. It was once said by some of William's students at Harvard that William wrote psycho- logy like a novelist and Henry wrote novels like a psychologist. 3 His father was a firm believer in culture and thought that this could be found more readily in Europe than in America. His sons thus received a European education. In 1862 Henry james entered Harvard Law School, although he had no serious intention of entering the legal profession. His literary career began during the Civil War, which he would have entered had he not been prevented by a physical infirmity. The Story of a Year, his first short story, was based on an event in the war in which he was not allowed to take part. His early work shows the influence of Balzac, George Eliot, and Hawthorne. In 1874 he decided to make Europe, where he always felt more at home, his permanent home. He turned first to Paris, but in 1876 he settled in London for good. From 1890 until 1895, he worked on drama, a career which was very unsuccessful. He himself said, I worked on scenes. I am not positively certain I arrived at acts. a In 1915, he became a British subject. This act aroused much discussion, but a New York Times' article stated: . . . a patriotic American, he was never more loyal to Americah traditions and prin- ciples than when he became a British subject. 4 He received the Order of Merit, the highest honor that England, through the King, can give distinguished 'men of letters, in 1916. Later that year, he died of a chronic disease. 5 Roderick Hudson, written in 1874, was his first full-length novel. The theme of this book is an American in foreign surroundings who finds himself unable to meet strange conditions. 'i His First Fiction Period lasted from 1875 until 1889 and included such novels as The Ameri- can, The Bostonians, and The Portrait of a Lady, which again has the theme of an American in England. The lady of the story, Isabel Archer, is one of his most attractive heroines. ' Some ol the stories of this period are Daisy Millier, Washington Square, The Madonna of the Future, and A Passionate Pilgrim. The latter is about an American's feeling for his original ancestral home, to claim which he has come to England. His Second Fiction Period, from 1890 until 1900, included the novels What Maisie Knew, The Tragic Muse, The Spoil-s of Poynton, and The Awkward Age. The Lesson of the Master, a story of this period, has an art interest theme. This theme is that art, satisfied with nothing less than the best, demands everything of those who would follow it. james himself attempted to live up to this. ' The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl are in his Third Fiction Period which lasted from 1901 until 1911. His last writings, from 1913 to 1915, are stories of reminiscence. A Small Boy and Others, Notes ofa Son and Brother, and the unfinished Middle Years were written during this period. 'U