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

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f -0 Q, CQ1JiQ4EsfsQi7R41 adjusted to what was thought proper for eccleslastlcal ears Here we have rlch untrammeled common human talk We cannot but remark that Chaucer expressed no surprlse at the appearance of women at the mn or on the prlgrrmage Besrdes he puts three of the best storles 1nto theu' mouths and they do thelr full share of the talkln rn the l1nks between the tales The tavern then brought about a perfect fuslon among 1tS accldental guests and the v1s1t to the four 1nns alono the way to Canterbury contmues to weld thls company Althouoh w1th strong royal afhllatlons rt was rn the London taverns of hrs time that Chaucer learned a tolerance and acqurred a humanlty that was Shakespearean 1n 1ts reach No vlolent or rash cr1t1c1sm escapes h1s pen as he draws the portralts or repeats the tales of that racy group of thlrty odd men and women And so they r1de on down throuoh the years the merrlest rrchest mmded company every preserved from Obl1VlOf1 throuoh the lmmortal Orft of sono Then as two hundred years roll away we hear commo back from a century not yet born a crystallrne volce Souls of Poets dead and gone What Elys1um have ye known Happy Held or mossy cavern Chozcer than the Mermard Tavern9 Have ye trppled drrnk more fine Than m1ne host s Canary wrne Or are fruzts of Paradzse Sweeter than those darnty pres Of venzsonp O generous food' Drest as though bold Robzn Hood Would wrth hrs Mald Marzan Sup and browse from horn and can I have heard that on a day M1ne host s srgn board flew away Nobody knew whrther, tzll An astro1oger's old quzll To a sheepskxn gave the story, Sard he saw you zn your glory, Underneath a new old szgn Srpprng beverage d1v1ne, And pledgrng wrth contented smack The Mermazd rn the Zodzac Souls ot' Poets dead and gone, What Elysrum have ye known, Happy field or mossy cavern, Chozcer than the Mermazd Tavern9' 1 It has often been wondered whether these lovely llnes by Keats are responslble for the revlval of mterest ln The Mermaid Tavern Although they unquestronably gave publrc mterest to the matter, he was In 4- gvfix X ,vv.,1:-'X-f-'af-3-1 fi-13, - amiff- 'LA' 1 M- N , , , 4 C -r f 'f ,. . x X , H , Aj,fg.g,- egxa gj :gg Wg xg-A g M g 4 rip -gg jig gf , , . . . O. . . i 3, - r v C . D v 5 . y ' b D D' ' D KA' y Y f . , . 9 1 1 . , . -A

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p1an showman welded together thxs Group of some thirty odd human bemgs as m1ght a skllled stage manager and Chaucer knowmg well hrs part passed from each to each lrstened to the out pourmgs whlch he dlgested and set down And the next mornmg they rlde r1de forever down those s1xty mlles of road and we rlde wlth them hstemng to thelr 1mmortal tales They never reach the shrlne so there are no return storles And the There IS the group of Chlvalry the Knlght the Squlre and the Yeoman We mxght mclude the Franklm for he represented the free dom from feudal laws Then there are the eccleslastxcs from the revoltmg Summoner h1s mottled red face made more loathsome by h1s Wreath of sores We see the monk the fashlonable preacher of hrs day costly fur trlmmmg the habxt of hrs order hrs mount a splendld charger Jmollng bells that he hears more often than those of the chapel We see the school mlstress of the fashlonable semlnary of the day the Lady Prloress We hear her unorthodox French wltness her pseudo courtly manners for She leet no morsel from h1r llppes falle Then her p1ty for the trapped mouse and her lnhuman tenderness for her lrttle dog as agalnst chlldren leaves her forever Fames rlpe cherry Ireserved m syrup We can almost see the fond and anx1ous mothers rushmg to her convent wxth thelr tender daughters We can only touch here and there on thls 1mmortal company There IS the lawyer We have an ugly name for hrs type today but as old Don Chaucer says No where so blsy a man as he there was And yet he seemed b1s1e1' than he was But here IS the madmficently vul0ar wlfe of Bath the Hauntmgly r1ch woman her clothes the exaggeratlon of everythmff that marks good taste from her hat the slze of a sh1eld to the ten pounds of coverchlefs under lt Indeed all her clothes 1n quallty and 1n quantlty falrly screamed the1r prlces as d1d her vo1ce roar forth her story on the way so perfectly was each ln character But how maonlficently has Chaucer done her portra1t It was the gCI'11llS of Chaucer who devlsed the meetlnv place at the wavslde mn the Oemus who made the landlord the soclal h1 h arblter lt was he who paved the way for modern HCt1OI'l Then even more splen drd than the storles each sulted as It IS to the character that relates It are the lmks that hold the storles together Here are Harry Balley s most splendld accompllshments, here IS that framework that holds the talks together and bmds thls human company mto an mdlssoluble umt Flfty or seventy five years earller, no woman would have appeared ln thls processlon The places of refreshment would have been a refec tory of a monastery and both the lmks and the stones would have been ll ..g -- Y , Q- g i!-fl-Lg:-:L,,,,f-Y '-gl? ff:.t-f if-, 'J - ,fl gf - r - ff f H JC- bg: 1. f---1 '-1-', v , ,yr f ,T ,ig-gr,,Y if i W g if A Y . , D - T' V supper to the winner of the contest is never given. P . U - V - H . A 1 . . N , ,, . ff ' ' ' H za ' S ' 1 ' 5 5 . - 5 S - . . . ,

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f fa' a, QEQSmw1w f' far from be1n0 the recoverer It had H ured amonb the le endary adorn ments of fancy whlch the school of Colerldbe Lamb and Le1 h Hunt passed prrvately from man to man Indeed Hazlltt referred to It several t1mes as an art1cle of poetlc falth But to our tavern T1s Twelfth N1 ht the closln of the twelve days of Chrlstmas merrrment and wh1le there IS yet tlme and the v1s1on st1ll before me and whlle I walt for the cakes for alack' the ale W1ll be m1ss1n the corner of Bread street and Cheapslde rn Old London O many a t1me I have stood there and have thoubht Here they walked here they stopped and entered I st1ll see the old na1l studded black oak door It IS twlllbht agamst a murky oranbe shot sky As the loom thlck ens there HTISCS before me an old t1mbered bu1ld1n wlth ables aloft set 1n rlchly carven frames cur1ous monsters shootlng out at the an les and from the beam ends I hear the creak of 1ron and there swmbmo at the corner IS the old Sl n I need not look too cur1ously My heart tells me It IS the Mer ma1d I turn as I half feel a movement One of the beam ends seems to sway fantastlcallv Oh there he IS W1ll Kemp astrrde a rrffon H1s smbm, comes down to me In youth when I d1d love d1d love a luoubrrous sono I thmk for a Twelfth N1 ht But he chan es O mlstress mme where art thou roam1n 9 Then another chan e And let me the canakrrz clznk A soldzer s a man A Izfe s but a span Why then let a soldler dnnk fOtheIIoD Suddenly out of the shadows they gather They fall 1nto l1ne and W1ll Kemp the Kmb of Comed1ans Jumps down amonv them s1nb1n and beckomnb them Under the greenwood tree Who loves to Ire wzth me And turn hzs merry note Unto the sweet brtd s throat Ah I know them all The first a stately fioure carr1es on h1s arm a velvet cloak and the lantern close at hand shows that lt IS mud stamed Ah, I remember a queens foot had once rested there And close at hand IS Robert Greene death 1n hls face But h1s b1tter look changes to supphcatron, when a great heavy hulk of a man hurr1es for ward and shouts, Ah, W1ll, what would the Mermald be wlthout thee 9 W1ll ralses hrs hand bemgnantly to the ghost l1ke Greene Then w1th an almost resrgned look the ghastly face vanlshes l I 4. , is 'X- ' Af L.,-F' rx,--s-:Lf ii --H 59- - , -' ' ' . .' - .,. 41 A A Y I 'C'I N'-'Alf'- J, fr K X' --f--gf - ,Xl Q4--'17-2-5 ffrf ,. Xl' A 'il 4 H ' O' O O' - b ' D O . . or .O , . 6 O 1 O' b D . . - u . . . g-I must find myself in a far-off time-in a far-off place. I am standing on ' O, J 1 . . .Or . OA - on . - ' o . . . . O- . on ' D D . . - , . A O- D . - . O, A . , ,, . .O . . . - D . . . - . - . . O . - .1 D ' ' of O, n - - sv- , ' , ' il ' A V! Ll D as g 1 g 1 I . T . O' YL O' .-.. b' D I ' ' 73 . . Op . . A . O.. on . , D . D . or U ' V !7 , . . 5 .