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

Page 30 text:

28 IGNA TIAN deep, have detracted nothing from his true workfto traverse the field of belles-lettres, replenishing its byways With Scottish grace and Gallic artistry. So the tower of mine eminence leans was not written of himself, and, had it been, the recognition that pursues his name would have fore- stalled its effectiveness. William M. Queen. Mlrtahility The tender bloom of innocence-what thrills Of joy it brings to those who fondly gaze Upon its splendor. O, were it thus always! Alas! like wintry cold, temptation chills That growth so delicate-and all the ills That fallen flesh is heir to, blight the days Of future hope and honor, joy and praise: It fades, imbibes the death that sin instils. And is this life? Ah, death, a blessing thou To free us from vicissitude. Behold The dazzling sun, the mountain's noble brow, The sky perennial, and all unfold A realm of peaceful bliss, toward which e'en now We daily journey spite our woes untold. Raymond T. Feely.

Page 29 text:

ANDREW LANG Z7 meshes of his admirable portrayal of hidden human feelings and the relation thereto of the characters, the creatures of the great novelists. Lang has been compared in appearance and character to Robert Louis Stevenson, yet they worked in utterly di- verse fields of writing. Of especial interest therefore is the essay on Mr. Stevenson's works in the Essays in Little. It is the lover, writer, translator of fairy tales that says in the aforementioned essay: thus in the fogs and horrors of London he plays at being an Arabian tale teller, and his 'New Arabian Nights' are a new kind of romanticism- Oriental, freakish, like the work of a changeling. Indeed, this curious genius, springing from a family of Scottish engineers, resembles nothing so much as one of the fairy children, whom the ladies of Queen Proserpina's court used to leave in thescradles of Border keeps or of Peasant's cottages. The Letters to Dead Authors were very popular, al- though Lang confesses they are by no means his favorite work as they came too easily and do not sort well with his ideas of reverence. They are written in archaic style. They have been called neat things, easy, unpretentious, and give evidence of varied taste and wide knowledge. There is a masterly trend of playful imitation in the letter to Herodotus, with a basis of true English humor. The fol- lowing lines at the expense of British' climatic conditions fairly illustrate the style of the entire sketch: Now the island is not small, but large, greater than the whole of Hellasg and they call it Britain. In that island the east wind blows for ten parts of the year, and the people know not how to cover themselves from the cold. But for the other two months the sun shines fiercely so that some of them die thereof, and others die of the frozen mixed drinks, for they have ice even in the summer, and this ice they put to their liquor. Langls faults, for his scholarship was rather broad than

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T . illlrlpnnwtw Ukn Jmitatiunb Muse of pure poetic taste, No Isthmian strife your verse can mary You smile not on the charioteer Who fast careers in Grecian car. For Martian arms your care is small And proud and haughty leaders' tauntsg The mellow strains of stringed lyre Alone can cheer your classic jaunts. The sight of fertile hill or dale, The babblings brook or rolling sea, The dense and clustered shady grove, For you have charms, Melpomene. I, O Muse, by Rome am classed Among her bards of lyric fameg My humble tribute, mistress fair, Accept for that distinguished name. Fred S. Johnson