Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 18 text:

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

Page 17 text:

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

Page 19 text:

WINTER SPORTS 1941-42