St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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ALMA MATER AND THE BOYS 'Tis true there's no French blood within my veins But now that teaching French is all the vogue, I follow fashion and as best I can Irnpart the accent with a little brogue. I come to tell that out of all your students The French stand first in all collegiate gloryg To tell their names, their honors to recount Would be a splendid but an endless story. The list is legion, but I fear fatigue Would fall upon you e'er their names I'd say- I need but mention famed Achille Artigue With Duraind, Rouleau, Francoeur and Mahe! He ceased, bowed, vanished, in his place appeared A gallant haughty don who scarce would deign To bow to Alma Mater e'er he said With flashing eye: I come from sunny Spain! What though your Spanish graduates may be In numbers few 5 their quality resplendent Proclaims them great beyond each other race, Wise, virtuous, in every way transcendent. What other nation that you've harbored here Could hope, by best of fortune, to prepare as Fine a list as one that should contain Gonzales and Corbala and Carreras ? He went his way, and as he went a noise Like the explosion of a fire cracker Announced to Alrna Mater the approach Of a German father, Joseph Spangemacher. I represent the Fatherlandf' he cried, And grinned as every merry German ought Q

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IGNATIAN And being true daughter to her mother Eve, Is not untinged with female curiosity. Small wonder then that as she idled o'er The prosy book of which I've just made mention, The list of graduates spread page on page In stern array, attracted her attention. She read the names in rather listless fashion And as she read a curious suggestion Obtruded o-n her active woman's brain, Framing itself in something like this question: In all this roster of imposing names Drawn from all countries underneath the sun, ' I wonder which of all these alien races May claim to be the most illustrious one? I read here names Italian, Irish, Spanish, Names French, names German and names Japanese, All sorts of names in fact-and so I wonder Which is the most illustrious of these? Which country that has sent its students to The halls of St. Ignatius may make boast That in my silent busy class rooms it Is represented by the mightiest host? As thus she mused in idle yawning mood Our dear good aged Alma Mater slept And through her sleep a pageant as of dreams With motion strange and stranger language stepped First came a laughing, freckled, blue-eyed priest, His thinning golden hair without alloy, And bowing low to Alma Mater, said: I represent the French, I'm Father Joy.

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IGNATIAN But as my name is difficult to say, I won't mind if you call me Spang for short. Well, Father Spangf' said Alma Mater sweetly, I hope that you can make a better case For your compatriots than the others did- The French and Spanish scarce are in the race. And then there poured from Father Spangemacher A list of names that seemed to sneeze and coughf- Reichling and Sweigert, Hartman, Freechtle, Schott Von Egloffstein and Jung and Kieferdorf. Enough ! cried Alma Mater, who is next P I am,', a voice replied, and lo, behold! A jolly priest, his red hair pretty thin, Not quite a youngster, not exactly old. He looked across his spectacles and laughed So heartily that at a glance you'd tell he Had a sense of humor. What's your name ? I'm Father President, my name's Trivellif' And Alma Mater laughed, she couldn't help, He looked so merry and he spoke so wittily. Continuing he said, You think me Irish, Hut nothing doing, I was born in Italy. And I contend that Italy stands first Among the honored grads of St. Ignatius. You don't believe it? What a strange idea! You must have evidence? Why, goodness gracious! I'm willing if you've got the time to spare 5 I'm not the sort of man a task to shirk, But if I named them all you'd think I cribbed The list of soldiers fighting with the Turk.