Webster University - Lauretanum Yearbook (Webster Groves, MO)

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CURRENT LITERATURE The spirals. pivots. landing places, fade- aways, . ' . The signal lights and dark stars of ClVlllzur tions. Now the head of 11 man, his eyes, are facts. He sees in his head. as in looking-glusses, A cathedral, ship, bridge. railroud-a sky- scra erv- . And the ans are drawn, the blueprints fixed, The desrgn end the line, the shape written clear. So fact moves from fact to feet. weaves, intersects. Then come more. then come blood .21an sweet. Then come pain and death, lifting and groaning, And a crying out loud, between paydays. Then the lust ghost. on the job walks. The job stands up. the joined stresses of facts The cathedral, ship, bridge, railrozul-the skyscrapere- Speaks a living hello to the open sky, Stretches forth as an acknowledgment: uThis big job is done. By God, we made it. Farts stay fastened; facts fly with phantom hird wings. IV I have looked over the earth and seen the swarming of different people to a dlfi t'erent Godve ' White men with prayers to a white God, black men with prayers to a black God, yellow-faces before ulters to a yellow- fame God- Amid burning tires they have pictured God with a naked skin: nmid frozen rocks they have pictured God clothed and shaggy as u polar bear- l have met stubs of men broken in the p'lin 11nd mutilation of war saying God is for getful and too fur 011', too far away- 1 have met people saying they talk with God face to face; they tell God. hello Guy and how are you God; they get familia with God and hold intimate conversa- tions-w Yet i have met other people saying they are afraid to see God face to face for they would ask questions even as God might ask them questions. i have seen these facts of God and man and zinxxous earthworms hunting for a home. I have seen the facts of bumble bees and svm'lnt butterflies. orioles nml flickers, eelrlwing moths and pink ladybugSe l have seen the spotted sunset sky filled with tlights 21nd wings-und I have heard high in the twilight blue the propellers of man and the evening air mail droning from Omaha to Chimgo, droning across Iowa and Illinois- Ami l have said: The prints of many new wings, many fresh tiights, many clean propellers, shall he on the sky before we understand God and the work of wings and airt V I have seen the figures of heroes set up as memorials, testimonies of fact- Leif Ericson in a herd, deep-purple bronze, stands as a frozen shadow, lean, with searching eyes. on a. hill in Wisconsin overlooking Luke Michignne Columbus in bronze is the center of a turmoil of traffic from world ends gathered on Manhattan lsluntle Washington stands in marble shaped fr In life, in the old Romanesque templeZon Capitol Hill, in Richmond, Virgi in, With an arrogant laughter heard from circling skyscrnpers- . Andrew Jackson in bronze on a bronze horse. a rocking horse on its hind legs with forepaws in the r, the tail brandishing, us the General lifts a cockade from hlS head in salutution to the citizens and soldiers of the Republic- Ulysses S. Grant, somber and sober, is on a pony high in bronze listening to the endless white horses of Lake Michigan talking to Illinois--- Robert E. Lee. r'unmbent in white stone, sleeps a hive ac sleep in peace among hlvleld ones of the southern Shenandoah il PV-v- Lincoln's memory is kept in a living, arterial highway moving across state lines from coast to coast to the murmur, Be ood to each other. sisters; don't ght. brothers. VI And may we askeis a flower a fact? Shell a thin Perishable blossom Mount out o homeland soil And give the breath of its leaves T For a memorial printed a few day s, For a symbol kept by the bees and the wind? Shall each flower And say, This is Me, Us: this romes from the dirt of the earth, the loam, tho mulch; this is a home greeting to our eyes; these leaves touch our footloose feet, our chil- dren and our childrenis children? The blue Cornflower alon'g the railrozld tracks in lllinois- The pink xnm-iasin hiding in the big woods of Minn 'Otae The wild prairie rose scrambling along Iowa roads- 1 Golden poppy of California, giant cactus of Arizona-- Apple blossom of Miehigun, trumpet vinP The rhudodendrons of VVashingtdn und West Virginia The Indian paintbrush of tVyoming, Mon: tana's bitter mote Vital and endless goldenrml crossing Ne- braskae Mariposa lily of Utah. South Dakota- Ox-eyed daisy of North Carolina, Florida's orange blossome The magnolia of Louisiana, the Delaware peach blossom- 'l'he silent laughing Salutations of the Kansas sunflowert The old buffalo clover, the marching Texas blue-bonnete The ine cone and tassel of the lonesome gtate of Maine- Shall these be among our phantom facts? state pick its fnvorito Kentucky's pasque flower of VII Facts are phantom; facts begin With a bud, a seed, an egg. Nations begin young the same as babies. They suckle and struggle; they grow up; They toil, tight, laugh, suffer, die. They obey the traced c' '0183 of the moon. They follow 'the 0rdt ned times of night, morning, afternoon, evening, and night again. They stand up and have their day on the pavilion of the Four XVinds. And so, to the pavilion of the four winds Game the little one they called America, One that suckled, struggled, toiled, laughed, grew. America began young the same as a baby. The littlg new republic had its swaddling c at 5. Its child shirt. its tussle to knit long bone JOmtS. And who can read the circle of its moons now I And who shall tell beforehand the secrets of its salts and blood? VIII Turn back and look at those men riding horses, sitting in saddles, smelling of leather, going to Boston, to Richmond, in velvet knickerbockers, in silk-steeke ings, in slippers With silver buckles, white-powdered wigs on their heads, speaking of the honor of a gentleman , singing HGod rest '6, merry gentlemen , meeting cnrpente s who built staircases and gables with their hands, the work- day was sunup till sundown; thev drove hand-wrought nails; the smoothingr of their own hands was on their woodwork. Look back; they are pinching their fingers in silver and gold snuff boxes, lifting tank- urds of ale, discussing titles to many miles of land, counties and townships of land: a gentleman rides all day to round his boundaries; and the jail doors cling to their brass locks holding the drags, the convicts of debt. Look back, And that was long ago. America was new born. The republic was a baby, a child, Fresh wiped behind the ears, Blinkine, tussling to knit the long new one joints. Look back; there is an interlude; men in covered wagons, in buckskin, with plows, rifles, siszhooters, sweep west; the Havana cigar, the long pnntaloons, the Mississippi steamboat, the talking wires, the iron horse. Yes, there was an interlude. Something happened, always some- thing:r happens. History is :1 living horse laughing at n wooden horse. History is a wind blowing where it listeth. History is no sure thing to bet on. History is a box of tricks with a lost keyi History is a labyrinth of doors with sliding panels. a book of ciphers with the code in it cave of the Sargasso sea. History says, if it pleases, Excuse me, I beg your pardon, it will never happen again if I can help it. Yes, there was an interlude, And phantoms washed their white shirts Over and over again in buckets of bloode And the saddest phantom of all stood up at ,Gettysburg And tried to tell right from wrong and left the most of it unsaid, in the air. The years go by with their numhehs, names, So many born, so many gorie. Again the Four Horsemen take their laughter. Men walk on air and tumble from the sky. Men grapple undersea and soak their bones along rust-brown, rust-ilaked turbines on the sea bottom. Men bite the dust from bullets, bayonets, gas. bombs, Till ten million go west without time for u- good-by, Till double ten million are cripples for life, Blind, shocked. broken storm children. Boys singing Hink Dinky Parley V00 ' Come back from tie oversea vortex, From the barrages of No Man's land, Saying with gleums deep in their eyes, HThere is nothing to say, ask me no ques- tions . IX Steel, coal, oil, the test tube, arise as facts, dominions. Standing establishments with world :nnbas sedors. Between two seashores comes a swift interv weaving of blood and bones, nerves and arteries, rail and motor paths, airways and airports, tunnels, wires, broadcasts on high and low frequencies to the re- ceiving sets. The train-callers call All Aboard for trans- continental flyers; it is seaboard to see- board; and the tin-cun tourists buy gas and follow the bird migrations. X Voices-etelling mankind to look itself in the fatceewho are you? what are you? well tell yonehere is the latest this is what Man has done today On the pavilion of the four winds, on the arcs of the globe; As the dusty red sun settles in the dayend the sport sheets blaze forth telling the box scores, the tont'hvdowns, the scan- daISeepictures of dying eli:1mpi0ns,'of new claimants, fresh aspirants calling challengeSeof oversee flyers. winners and loserSeof new and 011 darlings of destiny- XI .t A code arrives; language; lingo; slang; be- hold the proverbs of a peoplepa nation: Give 'em the works. Fix it, therels always :1 way. Be hard-boiled. The good die young. Be a square shooter. Be good; if you can't be good be careful. 'Whenthey put you in that six-t'oot hungalo , that wooden kimono, youlre throng and that's that. Sell 'em, sell 'em. Make 'cm eat it. What it' we gyp yem? Itlll be good for 'em. Get their names on the dotted line and give 'em the hu-hn. QIHCI'BJBCJVI 'max I: 001$ tuondimsqns A'Ixuegg twang P111111 limos 0v I'ouI tuogmnpg wet 'OlllO lsuqmmoo 1e aagge isod 9111 112 l9351 'zz. tides 'siooqos 01 seam qnp Ingoads haul tuomeanpg JESIBSOO'I Aq iSZGI tpemgimdoo U0 191mm SSRID-pUODSS SI! DQJQIIIH 8861 lsa-tz ndas 8 ON iA 'IOA ioiqo tanumloo 'Mto h-IOA AxaN tmzmpnmq 8211 pm? 91 311ng 01 .Iaquieidas xAmeam penssI Q 1113.1an x L' suinizsaueqm adaoxo iQAESnIDUi t ypu I 430071 Aq isxaetn stzmisuq I a Put up a sign; Dont worry; it wont lest; nothing does. Put up a. sign: In God we trust, all others pay cash. Put up a sign: Be brief, we have our living to make. Put up a sign: Keep off the grass. Figures don't lie but liars can figure. There's more truth than poetry in that. You don't know the half of it. dearie. Its the roving bee that gathers the honey.1 A big man is a big man whether he's a presi- dent or a prizefighter.2 Name your poison. Take a little interest. Look the part. It pays to look well. Be yourself. Speak softly and carry a. big stick? War is hell. Honesty is the best policy. It's all in the way you look at it. Get the money honestly if you can. Itls hell to be poor. Well, money isnlt everything. Well, life is what you make it. Speed and curves-whztt more do you want? I'd rather fly than eat.4 There must be pioneers and some of them get killed.4 The grass is longer in the back yard.B Give me enough Swedes and snuff and PH build a railroad to hell.u How much did he leave? All of it. Can you unseramble eggs is Early to bed and early to rise and you never meet any prominent people? Letls go. Watch our smoke. Excuse our dust. Keep your shirt on. XII First eome the pioneers, lean, hungry, fierce, 1r y. They wrangle and battle with re elements. They gamble on crops, chil s, ague. rheu- matism. They fight wars and put a nation on the map. They battle with blizzards, lice, wol es. They go on a fighting trail y . To break sod for unnumbered millions to come. Then the fat years arrive when the fat drips. Then come the rich men battled by their 1 hes, - Bewil orotl hy the silence of their tall pos- sessions. Old-timer, dust of the rxnrth so kindly, Old-timer, dirt of our feet and days, Old-time gravel and gumbo of the earth, Take them back kindlyv ' These i s, these swine. The bolhfs of them and their brothers blanch to the same yellow of the years. XIII Since we sell the earth with a fence around it, Since one man sells the ocean to another and guarantees :1 new roof and all modern conveniences, 1011 hearing from his father A rolling stone gathers no moss, John L. Sullivan won ohe of is important early fights and telegraphed this reply. 2John ll. Sullivztnis greeting spoken to President Theodore Roosevelt in the White House. 3 A Spanish proverb first Amerivzmizevi by Theodore Roosevelt. 4 Charles A. Lindbergh. 5 Based on n Republiean mmpuign story in 189:3 alleging that a mam on all fours eating grass on the White House lawn toltl Presi dent Grover Cleveland, 'tllm hungry, and was advised, tiThe grass is longer in the back yard. 8 A saying that took to rise from James J. tJimy Hill. 7A folk tale in Chicago chronicles two ditch diggers 0n the morning after Marshall Field 1 died. leaving; an estate of $150,000,- 000Y as having this dialogue, aJ. Pierpont Morgan's query as to court decrees dissolving an inevitable industrial combination. :' George Adel CURRENT LITERATURE Since we sell everything but the blue sky and Ogily the Blue Sky Laws stop us selling t at, Since we sell justice, since we sell pardons for crimes, Since we sell the land titles. oil claims, ninety-nine-yoar options, nll-dziy suck- ers and two-minute eggSe Since we have coined a slogm, Never give the sucker an even break and the Old Army Game gOOSw Since the selling game is the big game and unless you know how to sell you're a . bum and that ain't alle Since the city hicks and the hicks from the sticks go to the latest Broadway hit hoping to fix their glilns on a birdie with her last feather OR in a bathtub of boozee Let the dance go onelet the stalking stuifed cadavers of old men run the earth and call up the Four Horsemen. . XIV Now it's Uncle Sam sitting on top of the world. Not so long ago it was John Bull and, earlier yet, Napoleon and the eagles of France told the world where to get off at. Spain, Rome, Greece, Persia, their blunder buss guns, their spears, catapults, ships, took their turn at leading the civiliza- tions of the earthe One by one they were humped off, moved over, left behind, taken for a ride; they died or they lost the wallop they used to pack, not so good, not so good. One by one they no longer sat on top of the worldenow the Young Stranger is Uncle Sam, is America and the song goes, HThe stars and stripes forever! even though Hforever is a long time. Even though the oldest kings had their sing- ers and clowns calling, HO king, you shall live forever. XV In God we trust; it is so written. The writing goes onto every silver dollar. The fact: us all. We is you and me and all of us in the United States of America. And trusting God means we give ourselves, all of ourselves, the whole United States of Arneric. , to God, the great One. Yes . per aps is that so? God is the great One who made XVI The silent litany of the workmen goes on- Speed, speed, we are the makers of speed. VVt- make the flying. crying motors, Clutches, brakes, and 21 Gears, ignitions, uecelem ls, Spokes and springs and shock absorbers. The silent litany of the workmen goes on- Speed, speed, we are the nmkors of speed; Axles, clutches, levers, shovels, We make the signals and lay the way- Speed, speed. The trees come down to our tools. We carve the wood to the wanted shape. The whining propelleris song in the sky, The steady drone of the overland truck, Comes from our hands; us; the makers of speed. Speed; the turbines crossing the Big Pond, Every nut and bolt, every bar and screw. Every fitted and whirling shaft, They came from us, the makers. Us, who know how, Us, the high signers and the automatic feeders ' Us, with heads, Us, with hands, Us, on the long haul, the short hight, We are the makers; lay the blame on us- The makers of speed. . . u o . XVIII And we, us, the people, We who 01' course are no sleepwelkers, Perhaps we may murmur- Perhaps as the airmen slip ihto their leather coats, Gambling for the timetables us against the skull 21nd erosshones, Riding with mail sacks nuro s orange hloa some, the desert ezwt the Rockies. the Great Plains, the l ississippi. the corn belt, the Appalachians, ..0- UN. 0 TI . C o . a . . 0 Riding with $2M sacks, with a clutch on the steering wheels in storms and stars with a passing cry, Good lurk and God bless you, ,. Perhaps while they ridpdud gamble on tho new'trnnseontiuental sky paths. perhaps we may ask and murmu Good morning, America. Good morning. Mr. Who. VthL Good morning, let's all of us tell our real names Good morning, Mr. Somebody. Nov bimy. Anybody-whn-isAnybody-at- a 1 Which. Good. mornin , Worms in the Dust. Eagles in t e Air, Climlwrs tn the Top of the Sky. XIX You have kissed good-hy to one cextury, one little priceless album. You will yet kiss good'by to ten. twenty cen- turies. Ahl you shall have such albums! Your mothers, America, have labored and carried harvests of generations- Across the spillways come further harvests. new tumultuous populations, youn strangers, crying, We are here; e belongl Look at us! Good morning, Americal Morning goes as morning-glories gol High noon goes, afternoon goes! Twilight, sundown, gloutninge The hour of writing: Good night, America! Good night, sleep, peace, and sweet dreamsl XX The paints of many new ships shall be on the s y. The Four Horsemen shall ride again in a bitter dust. The granaries 01' great nations shall be the food of fat rats. ' And the shooting stars shaltwrite new alpha- bets on the sky Before we come home, Before we understand. OE in our western sky, Off in a burning maroon, Shall come in a wintrish haze, Shall come in points and crystalse-e A shovel of stars. Let us wigwag the moon. Let us muke new propellers. Go past old spent stars d find 'olue moons 0n :1 new star path. Let us make pioneer prayers. Let working clothes be sacred. Let us look on And listens in On Godls great workshop 0f stars . . and eggs There shall he- Many, many girls in a wild windy moon light, Many, many mothers cm'rying buhio-s. XXI Sea sunsets, give us keepsakes. Prairies gloatmings pay us for prayers Mountain clouds on bronze skies-V Give us great mvmorie. . Let us have snmnwr roses. Let us have tawny harvest haze in pumpkin time. Let us have springtinw faves to tail fur and play for. Let us have the fun of lmoming winds on long waters. Let us know the commands of storms. Give us dreamy blue twilights--uf winter eveningseto wrap us in a rent of drenmine Moonlight: come down-shine tlnwn. moonr ligtheet every bird vry and every song calling to a herd old earth. :1 sweet young earth. Contest Announcement The winners of the 1027-28 student- written contest, Literary Leaves by Tomorrowis Writers , will be announced inthcnextissueof Cmuuzx'r LITERATURE. VM- x; g Q Micln't OuloO'u .- . s.,.t.h

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CURRENT LITERATURE A House of Cards ttA Thing To D0,,i by Elizabeth Stanley, in The F 0mm for Sep- tember. As an encouragement to young writers, Mrs. Stanleyls first story de- serves careful study. The author rounds i out her circle. No new material is introduced. The theme is clear cut. Very carefully the effect of dis- appointment upon two characters is portrayed,and in turn, this effect is traced to its cause. Janet is her fatheris little girl in more ways than one. She loves Rosalie, serene and dimpled, but Rosa- lieis lack of respons to Janetls warm affection maddens h . Deliberately and gravely, Janet procures a hammer and smashes Rosaliels buttbn nose. Her re- morse and bewilder ent are quick and pitiful. After all Rosalie may have loved her in her doll heart. Her nurse- maid's exasperation as she picks up the doll's pieces and wrenches off Rosalie's blond wig-to save against a needy day e-are too much for the sensitive child. Fever follows. Janetis father before her had set up an idol to be lovedehis charming and beautiful wife. When all his ardor and affection could n it break the surface of her flawless man er, could win no spir- itual response to his craving for compan- ionship and sincerity, he too, had pulled down his house of cards. Politely but definitely, he had set out for a long trip to Africa. Arriving home at the crisis of his young daughters illness, Janetls father finds in her a small replica of himself-s the same sensitive spirit, the same crav- ing for response. With the knowledge and understanding which is granted him, he plans for Janetls future all that he has missed in his own life. The Ramparts 0f Carcassonne The ancient walled city of Carcas- sonne, in the southwestern corner of France, celebrated, this summer, its two thousandth anniversary. Travelers came from the encls of the earth to see this unique town, which already was a place of some importance when Caesar came to Gaul. The fame of Carcassonne has been spread through the poem of that name, written by Gustave Nadaud and trans- lated into English by John Thompson. With its ramparts, its citadels, its spires, its magnificent cathedral, Carcassonne is a perfect example of the ancient fortified town, and it came to be regarded as a sort of Utopia. The speaker in the poem is a peasant, bent with age, who had hoped all his life to visit the town. His wife and son, he says, had traveled iteven to Narbonneii, his grandchild had seen Perpignan, uand I-have not seen Carcassonne . Essaying the coveted pil- grimage at last, he dies when half way there. The Hair of the Dog That B it H im The Woman in His Life? by Rudyard Kipling in McCallis Magazine for September. The war-where he spent long months underground at Messineseincessant hard work, no sleep, no play, at last demand a reckoning from John Mardcn. Overnight lS outraged nerves pay for the hor r of those days and nights at Messines. It dawns upon him that he is going mad. Doctors prescribe a rest. Rest? He does not know the meaning of the word. He stays away from the HWorks . One incarnate fear pursues himethe shape of a small dog, pressed against the skirting-board of his room'- an inky fat horror with a pink tongue. uIt began as a spreading blur, which morning after morning became more dehnite. It was borne in upon John Marden that if it crawlfa out to the center of the room, the universe wail? crash down upon him. He wonde till he sweated, dried and broke out again. What would happen then-Ji Desperate cases require desperate remedies, and Shingle, former buddy, now valet and watchful nurse, takes a hand. it ,Air of the dog that bit iimll, he decided must be the cure and so Dinah, jet lack Aberdeen of the dwafT type, ag seven months, with pedigree, takes her place in John Mardenls apart- ment. Holding fast to his last bit of sanity, John Marden speaks to the inky fat horror that makes its way from the corner of his room that night. it1th a pup, right enough, said John. Grad- : wggembhsfoiwywwe ually, the real dog supplants the vision- ary and Dinah stays, the mistress of Johnis heart. Through a clever ruse of Shinglels, the household moves to the country that Dinah may convalesce from distemper. There, John Mardenls cure takes place. For to rescue Dinah from death, he must relive the terror of Messines, crawl underground throurzh a shelving tunnel, spading, bit by bit, a passage largeT enough for himself. Every inch is a pit of terror. But he pushes through, grabs Dinah, and together they find them- selves free. ttOh. look here, Shingle, John sat up and stretched himself the next morn- ing, itls about time we went back to work again. Perhaps youlve noticed that I havenlt been quite fit lately? Well, Ilve got it oEf the books now. It's behind me. The Passing of Ellen Terry The creed of the great actress, which was found after her death, is indicative of her courage and the achievement of her long and happy life: No funeral gloom, my dears, when I am gone Corpsesgazings, tears, black raiment, grave- yard grimness. Think of me as withdrawn into the dimness, Yours still, you mine. Remember all the best of our past moments and forget the rest. And so to where I wait eomu gently on. Page Jules Verne With the safe arrival of John Henry Mears and his companion and pilot, C. B. D. Collyer, the record of twenty- eight days for a trip around the world gives way to one of 23 days, 15 hours and 21 minutes. This beats the moon, which takes 27 days and 8 hours for a similar performance, though it is only fair to add that in her race with man she hugs the outer edge of a track ap- proximately 239,000 miles wide. The handicap is a heavy one. Goon MORNING, AMERICA What poets besides Carl Sandburg have suffered a long apprenticeship be- fore recognition? What other American poets stand out as supporters of his particular tenets of poetry? Read Carl Sandburgls biography of Lincoln: The Prairie Years. Read his collection of poetry: Smoke and Steel. Give some fact of historic importance for each of the following: Leif Eric- son, Andrew Jackson, Robert E. Lee. In stanza six, what States are not mentioned? Do all States boast a favo- rite flower? Can you name them? Explain: boll weevil in the cotton; doodle bug in the oil fields; lame duck in Congress; Lakes-to-Gulf waterway; Boulder Darn. Note the irony in stanza eleven. What sayings of great men besides these menv tioned have become catch phrases? What are the prophecy and the warn- ing in stanza twenty? What stanzas in this poem show Carl Sandburgls scorn of poetic conventions? What stanzas appeal to you for their poetic value? Are you familiar with the poems of Walt Whitman? What similarity do you note between the two poets? Men- tion two or three of the Whitman poems by name that are comparable to this. In what way? Read Lowellls ltCommemoration Odel' and Moodyls An Ode in Time of Hesitation . In what ways does each reilect the time in which it was written? THE WOMAN IN HIS LIFE Compare the plot of this story by Kipling with Mrs. Stanleyls HA Thing To Doli. Which gives us living charr acters? Which shows finer writing? 3 a VFIELD, HAMLIN GARLAND, STEPHEN LEAHX K. STERLING A. LEONARD, DOROTHY CAI Editor-NIABEL A. Bussm'. , CURTIS H. PAGE. ELSIE SINGMASTER. iuapnis qoea UaAoo xooqaiou an; Eugpniaug 'Jaisauxas e 10;. pm: we 01 EUnLVHELI'I .Lusuuno J0 saldoo amu-muw 01 ms 'ssaJ Coxih. ng Editors-HENRY SEIDEL CANBY, !O W CHRISTOPHER MORLEY ELIAS LIEBERMAN, CURRENT 11' T $2341ng COLUMBUS, OHIO Organized Studies of Living Writers and Their Works New YORK CITY VOL. V WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 24-28, 1928 No. 2 tWith Supplementl Carl 5andhurgn-Tmirz'e Toet N ABSENCE of organized rhyme A and meter, a prominence of par- agraph verse, diction swinging from crashing tramp dialect to language of haunting delicacy, revelation of the beauty and the brutality of life, quick sensitiveness to impression, power to express new ideas, startling contrasts-- these are the characteristics which even the most casual reader may discern in Carl Sandburgls poetry. Since 1015 when his first book, Chicago Poemx. appearedi he has been alternately criti- cised and admired. A pioneer in method, thought, and expression, he is obliged to bear the protests of an older school. Even as Walt Whitmanls before him, whose tradition he has upheld. his poetry is condemned as coarse and brutal; his themes, as ugly and distorted. After all there is something on the side of the critics if you consider only the Carl Sandburg who says, uLaughing the stormy, husky, brawl- ing laughter of youth, haIf-naked, sweat- ing, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freights, Handler t0 the Nation-ii but there is also the poet who sings, ttA face I know is beautiful, with fire and gold of sky and sea and the peace of long warm rain. As well as rough force and tragic irony, there are sincerity and rapture, spontaneity and a store of rich experi- ences. It is a many-sided Sandburg- :i. grim realist of the stockyards, a dreamer among the stars Born in Galesburg, Illinois, on Jan- uary 6, 1878, his was a struggling boy- hood. He left school at thirteen to work on a milk wagon, and in the next six years he became, in rapid succession, a barber shop porter, a sceneshifter in a cheap theater. a truck handler in a CARL SANDBURG brickyard, an apprentice in a pottery, a dishwasher in various hotels, a harvest hand in the Kansas wheat fields. Desirous for adventure, Sandburg en- listed in the Sixth Illinois Volunteers when the Spanish-American War opened, and saw service in Porto Rico. At the end of the war he was mustered out, and with one hundred dollars in his pocket, he began to think about an edu- cation. He entered Lombard College, good Warning, Jmerica in his home town, working his way through by acting as gym janitor, tutor- ing, ringing the college bell-any and all small jobs. Being captain of the basket ball team and editor-in-chief of the monthly were two honors he enjoyed. After college, his training and tastes made him turn toward journalism. He longed to write and, by means of his writings, to better social conditions. Then again came a period of odd jobs: advertising.r manager for a department store. district organizer for the Demo- cratic party of Wisconsin. salesman, associate editor for a business magazine, editorial writer on the Chicago Daily News. Meanwhile he was writing poems which brought him little encouragement. In 1908, Mr. Sandburg married. Now with his wife and three daughters, Mar- garet, Janet, and Helga, he lives in a quaint, rambling old house that was once a farmhouse, in Elmhurst, a suburb of Chicago. NGood Morning, American is a poem which expresses this age and this coun- try. It is inspired history. It spans the centuries. It spans the continent. It is full of startling contrasts. It con- tains in one spontaneous, sustained outu burst all that is recognized as essentially characteristic of Carl Sandburg. The poem was written at the invita- tion of the Harvard Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and read at Harvard on the 22d of June. Although so com- pletely different in tone and method, tiGood Morning, Americaii is considered by critics worthy to rank with Lowellls HCommemoration Ode and Moodyls HAn Ode in Time of Hesitation . tThis poem by CARL SANDBURG is from The Womanis Home Companion for Augusti IN THE evening there is a sunset sonata comes to the cities. There is a march of little armies to the dwindling of drums. The skyscrapers throw their tall lengths of walls into black bastions on the red west. ' The skyscrapers fasten their perpehdiculnr alphabets fur across the changing silver triangles of stars and streets. And who made 'vm? Who made the sky- scrapers I . Man made lem, the little two-legged Joker. i an. . Out of his head. out of his dreaming. scheming skypiece, Out of proud little diagrams that danced softly in his lieutleMuu made the sky scrapers. XVith his two hahds, with shovels, hammers, wheelbarrows, with engines, conveyors, signal whistles, with girders, molds, steel, concretee Climbing on scaffolds and falsework with blueprints, riding the beams and dangling in mid-air to call, Come on, boySe Man made the skyscrapers. II And so, Quite so, Facts are facts, nailed down, fastened to stay And facts are feathers, foam, flying phantoms. y Niagara is a fact or a little ehird cheeping in a fiight over the FallSe Chirping to itself: Vtht have we here? And how come 1' The stone humgs of old mountains Sag and lift in :1 line to the sky. The sunsets come with long shudowprims. The six-rylinder go-getters ask: What time is it'! Who were the Aztecs and the Zunis anyhow I What do I care about Cahokial Where do we go from here! What are the facts! III Facts stay fastened; facts are phantom. An old oue-lioi'seyplow is a fact. A new farm tractor is a fact. Facts stay fastened; facts Hy with bird wings. Blood and sweat are facts. and The commands of imagination. tlw looks back nnd ahead.

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Circle Thgatm Charles K. Gordon and William H. Branch Prawn! Elliatt Dexter Sam Sothem In a Drama of Love 66Thru the: YamsM With a Distinguished Cast CAST OF CHARACTERS UN order of apjwaranu'j IN THE PROLOGI'F, Wasp . . ., ...S.....,George Williams Clzarlath Sttvmzs.,.., . Marie Louise XValker Siblry Tu'nll - SARA SOTHERN .lolm Twrrcll ..... .V ...ELIJOTT DEXTER IIrIu'y Slpm'nx. V , . Herbert Quinn .Iarun Sirl'lr V, ,, .. Fred Muckuy IN THE PLAY Mnsr ..,.V....George VVilIiams Clmrlollc MummMane Louise Walker Huzry Slr-vrm Herbert Quinn Jolm Trrrvll ......... . ,7 ELLIOTT DEXTER JIM. Ilmry Shwwm fSiblcy TPMTIU ........................................................ , ....... ,SARA SOTHERN JIyrion Harmuw Marjorie Hollis Rlz'lmrds John Klemlon Slugrd under Immortal direction of Mr. Gordon SYNOPSIS OF SCENES PROLOGITE-At the StevensK San Antonio, 1905. ACT I-At the Steveny Home, San Antonio, 1910. ACT II-The same as Act l.' Two weeks later. ACT IIISAt Scotty Anthonyk Roadhouse. Late evening, 1925. FOR MESSRS. GORDON AND BRANCH Businvsx IWauagrr A. W. Kilgorc Slagr Managvr John Klendon Carpcnfrr John Secortl The BRUNSWICK PANATROPE furnislmd 11y WILL A. SVATKIN CO.