Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Y-E -3- - We-7, .-, fi - -f -af , Y v ' ,,-sn, -4, -,. - V. W Y - : ,,.. Y Y V ,-YY ,A he compares ancient and modern poets. Here he mentions Shakes- peare. In speaking of Horace he says, as the soul of Euphorbus was thought to live in Pythagorus, so the sweet witted soul of Ovid lives in the melliiluous and honey-tongued Shakespeare , and again he says, If the muses could speak English they would do it in Shakespea1'e's phrase . With such recognition in his own time, is it any wonder that Shakes- peare is considered the greatest of poets? What Greece and Rome pro- duced were great until his time. Lions make leopards tame ! Shakespeare is quoted, too, because he was the greatest of philoso- phers. He knew the relations that men sustain to each otherg he knew that the soul lives in an invisible world and that 'fThere,s no art To find the mind's construction in the face. He knew that judgment should rule courage, and that When valor preys on reason It eats the sword it fights with. Through his great knowledge of the human heart he knew the hopes, fears, passions and ambitions that sway the mind of man and knowing these, he said: , t Love is not love that alters When it alteration Ends. Do you wonder that Shakespeare, the master of the human heart, and mind, the greatest poet, the great philosopher, the man who beau- tified so many of our homely proverbs with his own personal touch, do you wonder he is so widely quoted? --Robert M. Cutter. Shalgespeareis Plays as a Mirror of Nature m, N HERE are some men whose names are written on the page f 4-v of history, as it were, in large type, who, nevertheless, in their own day, were not perceived to be of more than or- dinary size. Columbus died in ignorance that he had discovered a new world, so possessed was he with the idea that he had touched the outlying coasts of Asia. Shakespeare died in ignorance of the fact that he had made himself the foremost man in literature, so far apart in his thought and in the thought of his time, were plays and lit- erature. Yet to-day he occupies a place unparalleled in history. Men of every nation, of every rank, are captivated by him. People of foreign nations are so much interested in him that they learn English merely to 111 1- 11 T i

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-A, . . 45.7 ,L -,i , But Shakespeare said: Mine enerny's dog, Though he had bit me, should have stood that night, Against my Fire . With this personal touch it is no wonder that he is so widely quot- ed. His greatness is shown in other ways, however, for instance, as Mrs. Cowden Clark tells us, Shakespeare has paraphrased some of our commonest proverbs in his own choice and elegant diction , thus: Make hay while the sun shinesf, is to him, The sun shines hot and if we use delay Cold biting winter mars our hoped for hay. In Henry VI , Many drops pierce the stone, becomes, Much rain wears marble. And in another place he tells how the noble Duke of York was slain: Environed he was with many foes, And stood against them as the hope of Troy Against the Greeks, that would have entered Troy, But Hercules himself must yield to oddsg And many strokes, though with a little axe, Hew down and fell the hardest timber'd oak. Instead of, A snake lies hidden in the grass , Lady Macbeth says to her husband, H Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under 't. And Juliet says, Speak, heart, hid with a flowering face. Be ol? while your shoes are goodn is in Shakespeare. You may be jogging while your boots are green , and, Every dog hath his day and every man his hour , is alluded to by Hamlet in saying, The cat will mew and dog will have his day . These few proverbs will serve to show you how Shakespeare has elevated some of our most commonplace sayings from the commonplace. It is said by some that although Shakespeare is widely quoted in the popular English of to-day, he was unknown to his contemporaries. In 1600, however, England's Parnassus was published, containing over ninety extracts from Shakespeare. England's Helicon , in 1600, and The Garden of Muses also contain poetry by him as well as by Jonson, Greene, Spenser, Chapman and others of that time. As early as 1595, john Weaver published a book of poems containing a sonnet to Shakespeare. In 1598 Francis Meres edited Witts Treasury in which no

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-.gn f' .- 'vif ----vii -Q A-2 9, Y -,tiQx '- , r . A - , g read his plays. There is hardly a language capable of literary expres- sion into which his works have not been again and again translated. What a boundless attraction and fascination must people find in his dramas! What is his magic secret, what quality has he breathed into his plays, that should make them interesting and enchanting to all people for all time? From the beginning, Shakespeare had that freshness of feeling which marks the true artist of every kind, he had also the sensitive ima- gination and the ear for melody. The world was reflected in his mind as in a mirror, its large outlines and its more delicate shadings lying luminous before him. To us he is inexhaustible. There is no development of character, no trait of human nature, that does not somewhere find expression in his plays. Character-painting was his forte. In Shylock Shakespeare has represented the embodiment of a down-trodden raceg the product of centuries of cruel exclusion from the larger opportunities of life. He is a man misshapen by the hands of those who feed his avariceg and because of the limitations imposed so harshly upon him, he makes a stronger appeal to the human heart. On the other hand, Brutus, the dominating power in Julius Cae- sar, is a scholar, a philosopher, an idealist, one who sits high in all the people's hearts , but who, because he is not practical, is drawn into a position Where it is impossible that he should be entirely true to him- self. It is inevitable that he should meet with ruin, as many another good-intentioned reformer has done since his time, in like circum- stances. Macbeth is a victim to his own ambition. He requires only the strength of will to hscrew his courage to the sticking-point and he would succeed. This is supplied by Lady Macbeth, who is equally am- bitious. She is determined to rule. But when all obstacles have been swept from their path, and they have gained the kingship, are they happy? No, haunting fear is ever present, Even in the dead of night, Lady Macbeth arises and tries to rub the spot of blood from her hand, stained by the murder of the king. Macbeth continually reproaches himself for his deeds. Confidence cannot silence, and even despair cannot stifle the cries of his conscience. Every noise appals him. He listens when nothing stirs. The darkness and stillness of the night strike terror into his heart. This play shows the working out of jus- tice, for Shakespeare never would portray the successful criminal as a happy man. , ' Another phase of human nature is shown in the portrayal of Rosen- crantz and Guildenstern, the political tools of the King of Denmark. 112