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

Page 15 text:

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 .

Page 14 text:

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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6Si QlZll23l j Two glowm li ures approach arm ln arm They need no lanthorn The1r faces falrly emlt 11 ht Frances bless you and john ohn Fletcher The sound of hlgh talk follows but no coherent word And on they go Lodge Dekker and there IS Nash a grey shadowy wrsp out of the H1 ht for close at hand IS that ghost hke fi ure w1th the proud head Ah Tamburlamel Beloved Klt Marlow you would leash k1nvs to your charlot wheels And Nash weeps for h1s adored Klt w1ll not be of the splend1d company ton1 l't At the ve y portal the shadow vamshes As they pass throu H the ns1l studded door N sh pleads wlth one bes1de him Ay IN ter Chapman the Hero and Leander you w1ll Hmsh It Throu h the w1de door one by one they follow When the last has entered I approach the ruddy faced pot boy he repl1es rf you w1ll keep well w1th1n the arras there Such thm s are not meant for wcmen I reply Nay lad nor for men e1ther Such happenmvs are for the gods There IS a cllnk of the ladle on the huge wassall bowl and br Ben runs the whole gamut of throat clearmg .scarcely has he uttered a word when there IS a reat choral cry Then as master of the revels hrs chalr IS hfted and evervone donnm hrs mummers head the processlon headed by W1ll Kemp farrly dance about the room all chantxn the Twelfth N1 ht at the Merma1d Twelfth nzght knows a merry place Where he goes w1th fondest face Brrghtest eye bnghtest han' Tell the Mermard Where IS that one place Where' So san W1ll Kemp Shakespeares beloved fool and the m1 hty chorus followed untrl the srlver talled mermald outside trembled 1n her frame Ben IS finally seated agaln beh1nd the great wassall bowl the Swan of Avon to h1s rlght The cup 1S passed and the cakes And the toasts and the tales beU1n And gentle Wlll at first speaks l1ttle that mght save to call off the names of those now m the undlscovered country and Whose ardent splrlts had come with them th1s very mght even to the very portals of the Mermald The toasts over the tales begm even as one of our very pleasant modern wr1ters has glven them And between the tales comes the battle of the w1ts and here Master Wlll 1S the leader To Uwe the flavor of these Great nlghts I w1ll quote from an eye Wltness a letter from Francis Beaumont to Ben Jonson about the year 1605 14 -- ' fs 14? -- 71: -g-V Q2-lag.-zx. 1,1 13- ,ff f - fl 'r A W ,, c. X .1 I 1 A X-,ffez I- W - :Q-YL fkff--f-' :Q f im 7-. :l: i,zf - ,Y Y' - , , - . O, on . b b ' . . . .on H J za ' ' YY 'O' V O- ! I V V . .OU . Y, - . v O4 . b ' 6 as ' 1 1. - g A . I' I gr L. - , , Z1 ' ' G5 Fr C ' ' 1 ' . - 1 5 r , , - - yu 0 . o ' ' IC 7' ' tl' , - - - Ay. , . . . . O ' :J Q! ll ' ' . ' - - v 1 - 3 O' .ly . . on . .or U - A o' ', ' . or . . D ' ' . . . A . , . o . 1 b . . . , Q li 'o, ' Y! :D . 14' ' rv , ,B 0' ' ' 'o' tr ' ' b . U . . OA . y . .G ' . ' . A . . .U b . - Y ol. , T . U. U b a '