Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1941-1942 England because ofits very stufliness, and while in Italy Shelley wrote the Mask of.-Xnarchy. I me! ilIIH'!ff'7' by lhc way,- He had zz mark fikf' C'a.flf5r61zgl1,' Ilvlv .fmoolh he looked, and grim, Sewell bf00lUIOIl71If.f foffoicfzf him. 'I In these damning lines, Shelley expresses his hatred of Lord Castlereagh's restraint of the people. Another of the romantics, Browning, writes in a similar fashion of his desire to feel the red, wet throat lof Metternichl distil in blood between his hands. :Xt this time Napoleon was at the height of his power, and we can see that those times of trouble are very like those of today. We are aware of the great effect of literature. Byron's writings helped to liberate Greece, and, as has been said, the poems of the Ro- mantic Revival presaged the internal revolution of the early 19th Century. It would be more than wise for the people of today to take care, and pay attention to the IYordsworths of this age, who are building up our culture and background just as the poets of other ages did in their time. Perhaps, to some people, our cause is to free the conquered peoples as much as to keep free the British Empire itself. This, too, is connected with the poets. They stirred us to free Greece from the bonds of tyranny, and we have seen how our gallant ally has repaid us. IYordsworth, Byron, Shelley, and Browning were all pledged to Freedom. Byron says: Yel, Freedom ! ye! Ihy banner forn brzljfriizg Sffflllllj fike Ihe fhzzizder-,vform fzgoinsf Ihe taimig Thy f7'Itlllpt'f wife, lhongh broken Nota and fbilzg, The b0Ill2lE.ff .rziil the lemparl fezzees behind. Surely there is something in these lines that gives the feeling of courage, liberty and hope as much as any amount of speeches or posters or pamphlets, you can feel the voice of battle, and the clarion of freedom's war-cry in these words of poetry. But what has freedom, and the reason why we are at war, got to do with the actual war P I should think that it has a great deal to do with the war itself. In order to be able to fight, we must iirst have a reason and a cause that is shared by the people. We have seen how, in the case of the Italian people, this has been so important. They have no rightful cause, but are being made to fight for the beneiit of German aggressors. Their morale is their downfall. Knowledge and culture are directly influenced by freedom, and the very essence of life springs from freedom and a righteous cause. After this war, we will try to see that there will not be a war of aggression every twenty years. We will try to have justice and righteousness, and above all freedom for all the peoples of the earth, so that trade, prosperity, and knowledge may be built up with- out fear of their destruction in the years to come. The attitude of all peoples to war is found in the memorable words of the poet Shelley. O cezzre J mar! hate and death return ? Ceara ! muy! men lei!! and die ? Cease .' drain nor to the dregr lhe urn Of bitter propheqy ! The world is weary of lhe parl- O might if die or res! ai lar! ! D. P., Form VI. l15l

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SELWYN HOUSI-I SCHOOL MAGAZINE trusted to him. Our Scouts may well perform a very worth-while function in times ofpublic emergency. We all hope that it will never happen here , but not content merely with that hope, the Scouts are living up to their motto, Be Prepared . The Troop has made a contribution of twenty-live dollars to the Chins-up Fund which helps Scouts in Britain who have been injured, or whose homes have been destroyed, in bombing raids. Patrol Leaders Currie and Mathewson have been acting as ushers at showings given by the Senior Film Society at the Montreal Art Association. Throughout the year, Scouts Mathewson and Lehman, and in particular Currie, have been most helpful in assisting with the meetings of the Junior Section. S. G. Rants in the Jfrunt line This rovvai lhI'07IF Qf kings, lhis sfepfr'd isfe, This earlh Qf nzqivsly, lhis serif Qf illars, This olhei' Eden, 1I'c'111i-pzzrarfise, This prerions slolze se! in the siirer sm, This hlessed plot, this earth, lhis rmhn, this Englrmd. 9 Ti O spoke Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest poet and dramatist that has ever lived. He too felt what is behind the castles, hedges, slums and villages. He knew A f that this, our heritage, is sacred to us, and makes England dearer to us than iiii many another part of the world. We are enduring hardships and making sacrifices 95' 5 that our heritage may live, and that the faith of centuries may not be lost in a moment of weakness and destruction. As Sir Walter Scott has written: Brezzflzrs fherf Ihr man ivilh soul so fiend Ifho izecer lo hiinsvy hizfh s1zi11', 'This is my 01311, mtv Malice Kami' .' Ilhose hear! hzzrh 11a'rr :cifhin him LIITHYIZI .is home his foofslvps he hzzfh ll!1'Ht'l17 From rc'rzmfei'z'11g 071 IZ-f0l't'if7l slramz' ? Prose and poetry are important, apart from their own literary merit, in the fact that they are history, and that they reflect the course of events through the ages. The poets, although they express their own thoughts, are the embodiment of the better and the newer elements of their age. The spirit of poetry is representative of the time in which it is written. Let us take the Restoration Comedies and the poems of the Romantic Revival as instances of this. The former were written in the frivolous, gorgeous days of Charles II, and the comedies themselves mirror the atmosphere of these times in their gay-hearted and happy style. On the other hand, the latter represent days of riots, turmoil and wars. There is something new and energetic in these romantic poems. In the words of Byron and Shelley, there is nothing of the old, stale, elegant poetry that went before them. These are the words of revolution and of turbid strife. They are the fore-runners of a tide that would sweep England from her complacency and red tape. It would set democratic ideals in her parliament, and bring them to its people. Byron and Shelley themselves left l14l

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SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE The Jflping men of QEmpire Victis dominabimur auris CGray, 17393 L.-Xfrer Campbell's The Mariners of England . Dedicated to the Royal Air Force and the Aix' Forces ofthe Empireh Ye Flving men Q' Empire, IV ho guard brace En gland's skies, IV hose rraft ha:-e flown but thirty years, Yet, ehallenge ye, who tries ? Your glorious roundels raise again, To rout the self-samefoe, .indjfv through the sky, Though stormy winds may blow, Ilfhile the battle rages in the rlouds. .ind the stormy winds may blow. The spirits of your fathers Shall soar to any height, For the air it was theirjield of fame, The rlouds their proper ri ght: llfhere Bishop, Ball, and Barkerfought, Your dauntlesf breasts shall go, :ls ye j7y through the sky, Though stormy winds may blow, llfhile the battle rages in the elouds, .ind the stormy winds may blow. Britannia needs no bulwarlc, No towers, U in the sky O'er men-o'--war and merehantmen Our gallant airmen llfith bursting bomb and barkin g guns They quell the Nazi foe, .ls they sweep o'er the deep, Though stormy winds may blow, ' 1t 'hile the battle rages in the rlouds, .ind the stormy winds may blow. The meteorzjiags of Empire .Vhall yet terrihe burn, Till Nazi tyranny depart, ,ind the still' of peafe return. Then, then, ye airmen icarriors, Our wine and song shalljiow, To thefame of your name, 1l'hen the storm has feased to blow, 11714-n the astral .light is heard no more, .ind the storm has teased to blow. I 161 Spes