University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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20 THE REDWOOD The Poetry of the Cure By Edgar Schimberg, ' 26. H N Prance there was a man once who was a priest and longed to be a poet. As a guardian of his flock he embodied many of the virtues exemplified by the divine Pastor Himself, but he was no t so happy as a poet. Either his conceptions were so profound that he had no power to set them free of his soul, or else they were so obviously pious that they seemed prosaic when set upon paper. My priest was also unfortunate in this : that he could perceive no poetry in the world at his feet, but constantly dreamed of what was distant and unat- tainable. Thus, he had inflamed his fancy by a romantic conception of the pastoral life he was to lead; but now, holding the staff in his hand, he could not comprehend the sublime poetry of the Eucharist, or that which lies in the feeding of the flock of Christ. Having imbibed a good deal of the Latin Pas- torals, he envied even the old man guarding sheep all day upon the hillside, and I would not be surprised if he had forgotten the analogy of the Scriptures. But do not suppose that the Cure spent any of God ' s time upon his verse. All his duties were fulfilled, though his labors in the squalid village were prosaic and arduous in the extreme. Indeed, scarcely a soul dreamt of the long vigils at night and the unuttered thoughts of this poor creature who longed to be a poet. The Cure had a thin face and pale blue eyes. He was rheumatic and leaned forward when he walked. And some little children, too young to be reverent, laughed when he came down the street. Many peas- ants thought him a fool, mistaking simplicity for stupidness. He was also very patient, which gave him the name of being dull. But if there were those who doubted whether the Cure could weep, to them should have been revealed the vision of the solitary midnight hours, con- sumed in striving for hopeless beauty, and in prayers to the poet-saints ; and how when prayer availed not, a quiet grief overwhelmed the tired little man, and shook the foundations of his heart, Thus defeat and sorrow were his companions, who went with him upon all his walks in the plodding parish, and dogged the grey round of his existence. Strange that no man ever saw these two beside him ! But years may accom- plish for the Cure even hopeless dreams. Supplication fails not. The stones grind in a secret Avay — the Cure has written a book. Consider the unspeak- able greatness of this work to the Cure : all the treasures of his life lie in it ; his poems have fallen from him as the years of his life, or as gold leaves from a limb. Wonder not, then, if his modest soul shrink from being suddenly revealed to all the world. Eemember that no man yet knows him. But he will have strength ; the holy saints will give him strength. Not in vain will he have labored in the secret night. His eyes have tears: he will publish his book. Holy Cure! He thinks that it may glorify God! At length, then, the book of poems was printed and sold to many book-

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THE REDWOOD 19 ously, this period can never be longer than twenty-six days. The life of a sun spot is about three months and it is therefore apparent that a particular sun spot will exert its influence upon the earth three or possibly four times at periods of twenty-seven days before it disappears. By working out the many intricate formulae involved in these problems, Father Kicard is able to calculate the month, day, hour, minute and fraction of a second when the effect of a sun spot will be felt by the earth, before the spot is even formed, and hence, long, long before a change in atmospheric pressure has been reg- istered by the barometer, he is able to foretell it. Consequently the weather of an ensuing period of not only a month, but even of years, is an open book to him. If a sun spot is formed above the sun ' s equator, it is a Northern Sun Spot, and if below the sun ' s equator, it is a Southern Sun Spot, their effect upon the earth being just the opposite of each other. A Northern Spot causes a low terrestrial barometric pressure and hence that region affected, usually not very extensive, experiences storms. A Southern Spot causes a high terrestrial atmospheric pressure and hence any storms that are then raging in that partic- ular section of the world are brought to an end by this high pressure rushing into the low pressure areas, driving out the storms and bringing about a nor- mal pressure. Naturally when a high pressure follows immediately upon a low barometric pressure, or vice versa, there is a good deal of wind caused by the high pressure rushing into the low pressure areas. Just as Father Ricard ' s theory regarding the origin of Sun Spots is no longer a mere theory but is now a fact proved by observation, so too has his theory concerning the influence of sun spots upon the terrestrial atmosphere and upon our weather attained the dignity of a law. A comparison of the six thousand six hundred and thirty-two daily weather predictions, made by Father Ricard during the eighteen years of his observations, with the daily weather reports of the United States Weather Bureau over the same period presents a startling similarity, for it shows that Father Ricard ' s predictions have been 99.7% correct. The differences, unbelievably few in number, were due entirely to the peculiar geography of this region, which makes it extremely difficult to forecast the weather for this locality and which makes the accur- acy of Father Ricard ' s predictions all the more amazing. The Sun Spot theory has taken a place with the greatest scientific dis- coveries of the age.

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THE REDWOOD 21 stores in the cities. After this the Cure did not have any peace with himself for days, and scarcely set foot upon the street. But he prayed many hours. In a fortnight he called upon his bishop in the great cathedral city. This bishop was very kind ; but wise and just also, in a divine way. The Cure heard him utter these words : You have lately published a volume of poetry. . . My beloved friend, it is not good poetry . . . not good. Discredit might fall upon the clergy. You shall have to withdraw your poetry. The Cure was struck into stone. He felt the tears springing, and he with- drew unable to utter a word. From this point, he languished, and in the winter lie died, grieving the unfruitfulness of his life. He found Christus Consolator turning the pages of a large book, in which all the works of the Cure were inscribed. Your poetry is beautiful, Christ said; and gave him the kiss of peace. Poet to His Dead Love By Emile D. Maloney. Your hair is caught in the stars, And you are tall and still. Now I will follow the leaves Over this desolate hill. you are demure and pale, And moth-soft is our tryst : The wind is your long hair Shaken out in the mist. Wends a mouse in the gloom — Your grey love secretly fares. You had not far to come, The hill is near to the stars.