Walton High School - Periwinkle Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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PSX O 1 as - , .I C I I The toil of war A pain that only seems to seek out danger ln the name of fame and honor With the death of Shakespeare, the loom stood idle, but soon the industry of other peace-weavers took it up. Long before world courts and arbitration were heard of Lord Alfred Tennyson described a glorious peace in a poem of prophecy called Locksley Hall. l-le says: For l dip't into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be, l-leard the heavens filled with shouting, and there rain'd a ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue, Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm With the standards of the peoples plunging thro' the thunder- storm, Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furled ln the Parliment of man, the Federation of the world, Was Tennyson only a dreamer? And will his dreams never come to pass? Although Beethoven's work was in the field of music, it would not do to pass lightly over the sustained and noble dignity of his music which shames the violence of brutal warfare. l-lis Ninth Symphony, in particular, is a denunciation of battle, lt was said of Beethoven: 'll-le passes beyond the horizon of a mere singer and poet and touches upon the domain of the seer and the prophet, where, in unison with all genuine mystics, he delivers a message of religious love and resignation, identication with the suffering of all living creatures, deprecation of self, negation of personality, release from the world. And now, today, poets are still weaving, hoping to complete the tapestry with an inscription that shall read: 'lWrong ruled the years that were But lustice, guided by Pity, rules the new. . PEARL WEXLER. x

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CZOlTlI'l'lQl'lCQI'l'lQI1l SPQQCLI WOPIJ DQGC9 Gnd H19 DOQTI And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not litt up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Thus did Micah, the sage and prophet, toretell the spirit ot the operation ot peace-world peacel And long after Micah had become a part of the dust from which he had sprung, many poets took up the thread where he had lett ott spinning, and continued to weave the tapestry of world friendship. Our best beloved of all, the wisest and pithiest ot all humans, wove not a little ot the cloth ot peace. William Shakespeares loom produced a cloth of excellent quality, The silken strands ot the warp were bound around a base of brotherly love. The iron- like threads ot the woot were twisted around a base ot national unity. The senseless horrors ot war tar outweighed the glorious honors of battle, the tield ot the slain conquered was more vital than the rejoicing ot the living victorious. l-low vigorously did Shakespeare war upon war in the words: Now doth dogged war bristle his angry crest and snarleth in the gentle eyes ot peace. The good Queen Elizabeth doubtless had her ettect on the Bards work tor, excellent monarch that she was, she kept peace in England tor thirty years, What is more conducive to thoughts ot peace than peace? We know that Shakespeare is not a preacher. Never does he say, Peacel Accept itl But his poetry, philosophy and ethics are indisputably emphatic torces towards world friendship, The pure futility of war is expressed in these lines ot lulius Caeser: Hlmperious Caeser, dead and turnld to clay, lvlight stop a hole, to keep the wind awayfl Not very reverential, not very worshipping, but how very aptl Thus we might cite lines in every play that deal with the use- lessness and the brutality ot war, But all Shakespeares revulsion from cruelty and horror are summed up in the words: O I 0 .I l'Q l N

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Emerson in llwe Twenlielh Cenlurq A century ago, when our country was very new, our leading thinkers were greatly concerned about the philosophy of life and the materialistic trend which America seemed to be taking, Among those in the foremost ranks was a kindly and wise leader who was neither soldier, statesman, businessman, lawyer, nor pedagogue. l-le was far more gifted, far more skillful, far more individualistic, This philosopher and poet was Ralph Waldo Emerson, l-lis life was a beautiful, an inspiring saga of deeds well done and of words well said. Whether lending import and dignity to the anti-slavery move- ment, or condemning the corruption of post-Civil War politicians, or delivering lectures against infamous war, Emerson fought his battles with the fiery pen, not the besmirched sword. Whether exhorting the man of Cod and Nature to maintain his inherent posi- tion as lord of the earth, or lauding the doctrine of free-will and self-reliance, or disdaining the baseness of a gilded age in which the criterion was the tarnished dollar, Emerson was sincere, hopeful, and fervent. l-le was the prophet of his age, which heeded not his prophecies, but, in reckless haste, immersed itself into the turbid sea of industrialism, One century later, after he had shaken off all mortal care, we, the people, realize our error and the doom we face, Now that evil days have revealed the fallacy of materialism, the waxing shadow of the benign Emerson, democrat and individualist, has increased to majestic proportions. Now, after atoning for our unseen faith in the divinity of business and wealth, we turn to him for hope, for succor, for salvation. Remember that Waldo Emerson las he en- joyed being calledl believed human nature was inherently good, and that his theories are based upon the words, Trust to that prompting within you. All real good or evil that can befall man must be from himself, The purpose of life seems to be to acquaint a man with himself, the highest revelation is that Cod is in every man, With these sacred words, the world can lift itself out of the spiritual depression. By turning to Emerson and heeding his words, the harassed world may destroy those war-clouds that surround it, Regarding war, Emerson wrote, l do not like to see a sword at a man's side. lf it threatens man, it threatens me. A company of soldiers is an offensive spectacle. lt is only through returning to Emerson, who calls man back to Cod, who beseeches man to be a man, not a machine, that we can save ourselves from catastrophe. sat? O C 5 I 9 5 'T -O I U N l