Stern College for Women - Kochaviah Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 7 text:

I I If I to the rigliicoiis did riches give, and all the vanities Which you call the fruits of joy How long would the good stay righteous? The great King Solomon Towhom none can compare in wisdom ant! virttie Was good and pious before me until giving him His wish of gold and jewels, He turned evil and idolatrous before me; One thousand wives, one thousand liorses. All he sought was joy and glory. If this great man could not withstand The biting, venemous vanities WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OE MORTAL MAN? No! For they are the seeds of evil Better shall the poor dwell in sorrow and righteousness Than in wealth and sin. One more answer to thee I give And then to the heavens I do vanish. Look out again upon the beragged woman Look out upon the bereaved mother And hark How she still in God believes Though sorrow has broken down her body It could not touch her soul. If man is blessed eternally with joy And yet believes, it is no wonder. But — If MAN believes while besieged with pain and sorrow How much more will his reward be? And therefore God to men gives sorrow To test their faith and courage. And from this trial He can discern the pure from the impure The fruit from the chaff. Between glorious heaven and smouldering hell An old belabored beggar walks the brownish earth. His head is bowed, his clothes are tattered But even in his poverty one can now discern A gleam, a fire emanating from hi s eyes As he passes with sluggish steps Unknown through the earth to eternity. By Adele Levine

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£; S? , f ? t :i,jff?f9i{ f 79it,, !i THE FRUIT AND THE CHAFF Between glorious heaven and smoldering hell An old belabored beggar walks the brownish earth. His clothes arc tattered and besmirched with dirt His brow is stained with the sweat of pain; Blood, hate, pain and death are the liquid of his sinews. OH GOD ABOVE. Is this the work of your creations? His head is bent, his eyes benumbed He travels slowly, with heavy st eps, the brownish earth. To the left he hears the moans and cries of tortured mothers Seeing their babes dying at their breasts, Tlieir tears (lowing and falling like rain. And all for nought For these cannot bring the dead to life. OH GOD ABOVE, Is this the work of your creation. ' And to the right he sees an old beragged woman Her silvery hair pushed and churned in the cruel and biting wind The creases in her brow bear witness to her toil and pain. OH GOD ABOVE, Is this the work of your creation. ' Her days were filled with heartfelt prayer She was righteous, good, and pure But now she stands amidst the filth and sells her dirty wares. Five famine-bred children has she. Their very bones betell Their fate; their cries go unheeded as they wallow in the dirt. OH GOD ABOVE, Is this the work of your creation. ' And just before him he hears the din and revel From the manor house: He hears the drunken cries of the squire As he fills his belly with the fruits of the land, perverted women Dance before him their gowns falling from their waists Their sensuous bodijs exposed and filled with evil. And yet They fill the eyes of this beastly squire. OH GOD ABOVE, Why do the evil reap the fruits of joy And the good the chaff of sorrow. ' And suddenly As if from some unfathomable realm A star appears and the heavens begin to burst At the sorrowful droning cry. The old belabored beggar Feels the touch of some celestial hand upon his shoulder The soft, sweet mellow voice taps gently at his cars, My son, a true and noble question dost thou ask One that comes to the very portals of heaven And two answers shall I venture to calm your unbelieving heart: j Si ' ' S ' ss ' ' afi Sis ' ' sa ' s

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Dan Vi)gcl At the time you arc graduating, there is a war going on in Vict Nam, and it is a dirty war in a far away place, the closeness of which is brought home to us by casualty lists, draft calls, and the spectre of Munich, where once before there was a confrontation. There is another war in progress, where confrontation is even more dilficult, and where success or failure depends ujxjn the unseen more than upon the observable. It is the war against the Mind. Everywhere the unorganized but very potent attempt at the debilitation of the Mind goes on. Adult entertainment is given as synonymous with physical perversion; Indi- viduality is c-quated by the unwashed with immortality; Freedom is popularly tcx) often the cloak for irresponsibility. I call upon you to consciously reject these trends. 1 call ujxin you to exercise your freedom to choose to dwell in your Mind forever with Sages and true Poets, rather than with the transient and the glib. To prepare you for the good life of the Mind and Spirit has been our endeavor. Now we look forward over the years to see what we have wrougin in you. You will not fail us, for, indeed, you dare not. Good luck! Dan Vogcl Dcao