Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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THE DEBATER mitted that he was the greatest of men, and in a eulogy which he wrote of him said, I did love and honor him, on this side idola- try, as much as any. This proves that Shakespeare was considered as great in his own time as he is at the present. Another interesting fact is the careless way in which Shakespeare himself treated his plays; he would act them; they would become lost and he would have no idea where they were. But for his friends, we might not have had the collection of plays which we have today. In 1623, seven years after his death, a collective edition appeared, known as the First Folio and then only because of the piety of two of his actor friends. Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays, two long poems, and one hundred and fifty- six sonnets. HELEN BAILEY ' 16. SHAKESPEARE ' S SONGS |E generally think of Shakespeare as the great dramatic writer who wrote the large number of plays which have been considered for the last three centuries, and are at present the greatest in the English lan- guage. Beside being a great playwright Shakespeare is the author of a large num- ber of sonnets and songs. There is no doubt but Shakespeare had a very correct idea of music. There is hardly one of his plays in which it is not intro- duced in some form. His songs are found most frequently in comedies. In Mac- beth, one of his greatest tragedies, there are no songs, and in Othello only the one sung by Desdemona. A number of Shakespeare ' s songs have been set to music, but they are rarely heard except in the production of his dramas. The songs, with a few exceptions given otherwise than in connection with the plays, have not met with any particular success. One which is very effective for a large chorus is the selection from the Two Gentlemen of Verona, entitled Who is Sylvia. In the Merchant of Venice, a song. Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how nourished, Reply, Reply! is always given while Bassanio is com- menting on the caskets, to himself. And if once heard one could never forget the beauty of the little song sung by Lucius in the quietness of Brutus ' tent on the battle- field of Phillipi. Also, we find, constantly, through Shakespeare ' s works, flutes and trumpets in the most tense scenes. He seems to have been exceptionally fond of the cornet, for we find it very often in his plays. One of his most famous musical quota- tions, and which shows very plainly his re- gard for this subject, is: The man that hath no music in himself. And is not moved by the concord of sweet sounds. Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils. This evidence shows plainly Shakes- peare ' s love and keen appreciation of music. EDNA CLOUDMAN ' 17. f SHAKESPEARE ' S GARDEN I HE morning sun peeps into wide latticed windows on the east side of an old house on Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. Next, it steals to a garden on the south, falling on bright beds of flowers and, par- ticularly, on the tall figure of a man wan- dering lovingly among them. This, his garden, is, in his own opinion, William Shakespeare ' s dearest and most valuable possession. Cultivated and vdld flowers grow together in bright profusion. Here a beautiful bed of nodding daffodils, there one of daisies. Now he stoops to pluck a pansy, and again to take a withered leaf from his choicest rose-bush. He wanders farther into the old garden, and comes upon a large clump of hollyhocks growing high up beside the old wall, shutting the garden in from the street. As he reaches the end of his garden, he stops to gaze with admiring eyes upon a tiny bed of violets,

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THE DEBATER 1564 William Shal spedr 1916 Classifxjing Shal ( sp ar S Wom n Characterizations from Dr. George WOMAN PLAY Katherine .... Taming of the Shrew .... .. Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Rosalind As You Like It . Viola Twelfth Night . Lady Macbeth Macbeth Portia Merchant of Venice . Helena Love ' s Labor Lost . . . Tamora Titus Andronicus Juliet Romeo and Juliet Cordelia King Lear Cleopatra Anthony and Cleopatra . Marina Pericles Isabella Measure for Measure Imogen Cymbeline Hermione . . . Winter ' s Tale Ophelia Hamlet Miranda Tempest Desdemona . . Othello randes, the Great T)anish Critic CHAR A CTERISTICS High spirited, self-willed, but lovable. High intellect, combative, energetic, daring- ly witty. Gay without a sting, sensitive and intelli- gent; loving passionately and being loved passionately. Sound of understanding, emotional, deep and patient, with great power of passive love. Wicked even to the point of brutality under stress of passionate love and great am- bition. Thoroughly genuine, almost masculine, yet most womanly in power of self-surrender. High-souled type of loving and cruelly mal- treated woman. Powerful intellect, defiant of morality. Passionate love yet under control of prin- ciple. Filial love, kindness of heart. Quintessentially erotic emotion chemically free from all other elements. Nobility of character. Spotless purity of soul. Born for happiness, inured to suffering, calm, collected. Majestically lovable, grand and gracious simplicity. Unobtrusive affection, devotion even to in- sanity. All that is admirable in woman, maidenly immaculate. Victim of jealousy. He was a man not for an age, but for all time. . . Ben Joh-tison. SHAKESPEARE T is now an opportune time, since magazines and papers are de- voting so much space to articles on Shakespeare, to speak of a few things concerning him. One newspaper is giving a series of pictures with brief but interesting explanations; pageants are being planned, and Shakes- peare ' s plays are being given in honor of him, since this is the Three Hundredth Anniversary of his death. There is no necessity of writing a sketch of his life, as anyone who is at all inter- ested in this famous man has read the meagre facts about his life. But, it may be well to know how the people of his own time regarded this great man. They were not, as many people of today believe, un- appreciative of his merit; they did not con- sider him to be any ordinary writer; his plays were not passed by unnoticed and the majority of the people of that time were as appreciative of Shakespeare as we are today. Even Ben Jonson, his great rival, who was always jealous of Shakespeare ad-

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8 THE DEBATER blossoming in a secluded corner near the wall. The faint odor of ripening fruit floats to him over the wall which separates the garden from the orchard. His orchard is almost as dear to him as his garden. Near the centre are two large oaks standing guard over his favorite fruit trees; apple, pear, peach and cherry. The dewy grass beneath them is strewn with the fruit which the rollicking night ' s wind has blown down. But now, he turns with lagging steps to leave. Time is flying and he must set out on a long trip to London, where his busi- ness shall go all the smoother for this fare- well visit to his garden. FLORENCE KIRK ' 17. A SHAKESPEARE GARDEN First— Daff odils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty. Winter ' s Tale. Act IV., Sc. 3. Violets now That strew the green lap of the new-come Spring. Richard II. Act V.,Sc. 2. And in due order — Pale primroses That die unmarried ere they can behold Bright Phoebus in his strength. Winter ' s Tale. Act IV., Sc. 3. The fairest flowers o ' the season. Carnations and streak ' d gillyflowers. Winter ' s Tale. Act IV„ Sc. 3. Lilies of all kinds, The flower-de-luce being one. Winter ' s Tale. Act IV., Sc. 3. Thou shalt not lack The asur ' d harebell. Cymbeline. Act IV., Sc. 2. Honeysuckles ripen ' d by the sun. Much Ado About Nothing. Act. III., Sc. 1. The lily That once was mistress of the field. Henry VIII. Act III., Sc. 1. Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram. Winter ' s Tale. Act IV., Sc. 3. The marigold that goes to bed with th ' sun, And vdth him rises weeping. Winter ' s Tale. Act IV., Sc. 3. Pansies for thought. Hamlet. Act IV., Sc. 5. Raise aloft the milk-white rose, V ith whose sweet smell the air shall be perfumed. Henry VI. Pt II., Act I., Sc. 1. The red rose on triumphant brier. Midsummer Night ' s Dream. Act III., Sc. 1. Rosemary for remembrance. Hamlet. Act IV., Sc. 5. A bank where the wild thyme grows. Midsummer Night ' s Dream. Act II., Sc. 2. Poppy Shall medicine to thee sweet sleep. Othello. Act III, Sc. 3. Sweet musk roses. Midsummer Night ' s Dream. Act II., Sc. 2. Daisies pied And lady-smocks all silver-white. Song. Love ' s Labour ' s Lost. Act V., Sc. 1. I hope there will be no — Hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burrs. Losing both beauty and utility. Henry V. Act V., Sc. 2. And in the garden — I wish you all the joy that you can wish. Merchant of Venice. Act 1., Sc. 4. — Exchange.