Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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TROUBLES IN RHYME-MAKING J love you, darling, you know that, I ' ve told you many limes; But though 1 love you very much, 1 can not make up rhymes. They say that love inspires great things, Oh! little do they know That loving you with all my heart I still can ' t make words go. I ' ve heard it said that genius hums In anybody ' s brain, If he ' s got love behind his pen; And yet I try in vain. I truly wonder why it is That if I try my best I still can ' t write like some folks can Who ' ve no love in their breast; But then I ' m just a little boy, And maybe when I ' m ten (I ' ve only one more year to waitj I ' ll write like famous men. Dad says that Shakespeare wrote rhymes well, So when I ' m great like him I ' ll try to write a rhyme for you; And then they ' ll talk of Jim, And say He writes rhymes really well, I knew him at one time , And you can say with well-earned pride, caused that lovely rhyme! Mary Munroe, Form Vb, Cumming House. IT ' S EASY SHE walked out jauntily swinging her mitts; she was going to show them how foolish it was to say that skiing was difficult, it looked the easiest thing imaginable. She put on her skis and off they went; it was funny the way the things would keep on crossing and sticking, and she was sure they were too long — they were perpetually in ihe way ! She Iried to imitate their easy walk bul failed miserably, so contented herself with loping along in a most undignified fashion. 24 thai ai, ;ak echoks mi

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I strode off and soon found myself in the town square. The buildings were all in the modern manner. On my left stood a large structure with huge windows. Inside at desks sat people of all ages, busy at something or other, while others worked at blackboards. It must be a school of some sort. A policeman was standing on the corner so I asked him what it was. That, he replied pompously, is our recreation hall. But what are the people working at? They aren ' t working. They are enjoying their period of relaxation by doing arithmetic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry problems. So! I said. The copper tapped his leg with a yardstick. Why do you carry a yardstick instead of a baton? I inquired. How else could I measure a man ' s intentions? Could you tell me the name of this square? Root, he answered shortly. The man gave me an uneasy feeling so I moved on. Half way across the street I stopped to consider which way to go. A passerby spoke as he hurried along. Don ' t loiter on the parallel lines. Quickly I stepped across the car tracks and, reaching the sidewalk, I saw a woman selling apples. I felt like going up to her and saying, If you have fifty apples and I take twelve away, how many would you have left? But the thought of that policeman across the street held me back. I decided to find a restaurant and have something to eat, by way of passing the time. Walking along I came to a large edifice with guards at the gate. Upon inquiring, I learned that this was where the Great Minds were labouring over theories and problems. I stood and gazed at this seat of evil and then hurried on. Very soon I came to a school which was just emptying for the noon hour. How smug the children looked! Were they ever happy? Perhaps Mathematicians have their own brand of happiness, but I didn ' t care for the countenances it produced. Ha ! Here was a restaurant. I entered and was shown to a table by a waitress who had a number on her sleeve. This made me feel as if I were in prison being waited on by a trusty ! She pointed out that on one side of the menu were tablets for those who lived mathematically. Very nice, I replied. Bring me a steak smothered in onions. Having finished my dinner, I looked around the room and saw a woman who had just entered with a small child. Motioning to the waitress I said, If you would change that number at the door and the small fraction beside it into a vulgar fraction, they can occupy this seat and save a chair for someone else, and then I made a hasty exit. How did you like it? asked the little rabbity man when I got back to my ' plane. That place gives me the creeps. You see I ' m allergic to Mathematics. That is very interesting. I understand that the Great Minds are working on a serum now to counteract that allergy in school children. So! I said, and thanked Heaven that I was a man. Rosemary Graham, Form IIIa., Ross House. TRAFALGAR ECHOES 1944 23

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What was that she saw in front of her? — a ditch! Surely they weren ' t going to cross that! Apparently they were, and on a measly little hoard too! She decided that that was too much, and crawled awkwardly down one side and up the other. She apologized profusely for having kept them waiting. Now they came to the hill. She was going to show them how to ski. She started climbing — it looked easy enough, but — ouch ! another mouthful of that beastly snow ! Up and at it again ! Well, they couldn ' t expect any reasonable human being to be able to climb anything as slippery as this stuff! She watched the way they herring- boned up the hill and tried to do the same and — down again! She was getting a little tired of struggling to her feet. She looked down — they had come very high up; she wondered if she would have the courage to go down. At last — the others had stopped. Somebody went down — what was she worrying about? — it was easy! Then it was her turn. Did she say she was going to show them how to ski? Evoking a prayer to that god peculiar to skiers, she closed her eyes and gave a gentle shove. Oh dear, the snow was bumpy! How did people stay on their feet? It was much faster than she expected — fifty miles an hour at least, she thought. She began to wonder how they did those funny turns. Well, this time she would go straight — plenty of time to try them next time. Oops! What was that? She went flying and took a header into the snow; she wondered vaguely why she ' d done that — wasn ' t she meant to be showing them how to ski? They asked her how she enjoyed it. In a tired voice she said she loved it, but of course she was just a beginner. (She would show them what she could do next time!) Denys Clarke, Form Vb., Fairley House. A FRAGMENT November ' s days are numbered twenty-nine When from the heavens an icy filigree Descends, and nestles softly on the ground. Soon others come to join the braver one And gently float to earth in listless swirls, As if still drowsy from so long a sleep. Then soundlessly the flakes drop down, until The last lone crystal cleaves the quivering air, And slowly sinks to rest. The world is still, Clothed in a velvet hood of silence rare. A pause, and then the flowing tide of night Creeps from the hollows and engulfs the land. It slips along the hilltops; then the sky Is shadowed with the onward-surging wave, Which sweeps across the heaven from east to west. But angels keep their vigil day and night, And through the blue they watch with starlike eyes The slumbering earth. And then the great church-bell Sends sounds of curfew winging through the skies, As Peace enfolds the world within her wings. Doreen Harvey, Form VIa., Ross House. TRAFALGAR ECHOES 1944 25