Westbrook High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Westbrook, ME)

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Westbrook High School h '- 4'bA I 15 I will not attempt to explain how the gash got there, but I will say that I am done ex- ploring haunted houses. H. M. L., '32, A WILD RIDE IN 1 A. D. Phaethon, a petulant boy, Quickly tiring of a shiny toy, Wished to try his father's car, Drove away and went too far. Father raged as his speeding son Stepped on the starter and gave her the gun. He went too high and scorched the sky, He drove too low and burned below. Old mother earth did quake and crack As smoke and flames rolled o'er her back. Phaethon, terrified, lost control And down the sky road he did roll. In the Eridanns river, Which is now called the Po, 'Twas there the poor boy's body fell, But did not sink below. The sweet waves gently washed his face, Prepared him for his doom, Sea nymphs carried him away And laid him in his tomb. M. K., '33. RIVERS Rivers wander, Rivers sleep, Some are shallow, Some are deep. This one takes a Narrow way, That one dances Night and day. This one sings, That one cries, Still another Laughs and dies. Rivers brood, Rivers fuss. I find rivers just like us. M. P., '32. CHARACTER STUDY OF HAMLET From the very beginning of the drama, sym- pathy, on the part of the reader, is animated for Hamlet. The loss of his father, whom he loved with great sincerity, had left him in a state of melancholy and gloom and had caused him to suspect his Uncle Claudius, who was the present king. His mother's hurried mar- riage, almost immediately after her husband's death, had wounded his pride and in his mind this act had been an unforgivable wrong. This added to his suspicions and hatred toward the King and his ironical comment a little more than kin and less than kind to the King's greeting, my cousin and my son, proved that Hamlet did not consider his own character to be as hypocritical as the King's, even though he was his kin by his mother's marriage. When the Queen suggested that Hamlet should forget his sorrow, he burst forth in protest against this suggestion, for he thought that his father was worthy at least of his respect, since everyone else had forgotten 'him. Hamlet was still obedient to his mother, how- ever, for he promised that he would not return to school at Wittenberg. After the Ghost revealed his tragic death to Hamlet, his hatred for the King increased and he was determined to seek vengeance. A1- though he confessed to his friend Horatio that his chances for being King had been stopped by Claudius, this did not lead to any desire for revenge. It was his promise to the Ghost which really incited him against Claudius, for in those times it was lawful for the son of a King to avenge his father's death, provided that he knew who the slayer was. Hamlet, however, was a man of genius and a brilliant scholar who was more liable to think over his problems before he actually carried them out. His delay to take action against the King was not due to external circumstances, for he had allowed several opportunities to slide by, due to lack of courage. On the other hand, if he had not been accustomed to

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I4 g .......A. 1 The Blue G- VVhite that his other two children had been murdered during the night and, like the other child, they had curious red marks on their necks. For the next few nights the neighbors stayed with the father and mother. Some time later they thought that the spirit had finished his work at that house, so they went home after promising to come to visit every day. The next day some neighbors went to the farm- house and rapped on the door. Receiving no reply they opened the door and walked in. The sight that met their eyes made their blood run cold, and the Women fainted. There, lying on his back in the middle of the floor with his throat slit from EAR to EAR, was the farmer. Terrified, the neighbors ran upstairs to see what had become of the wife. They rapped on her bedroom door and, receiving no reply, they entered. The woman lay in bed as if in sound sleep. They thought that they had bet- ter wake her, but when they went to the bed, they saw that there were queer red marks on the throat-she had been murdered. From the position in which he lay on the Hoor, the people supposed that the father had been going for aid when he ran into something sharp, causing the ghastly cut on his neck. The neighbors buried the bodies with proper ceremonies and closed the house. The deaths were reported to the sheriff, who investigated, but he could find no trace that would lead to the murderer. This story aroused my interest so much that I decided to try to stay there overnight to see if the claims were true. The townsfolk said that no one had stayed there since the house had been closed nearly 50 years ago. A few days later I set out for the house, bent on seeing if there was any truth in the rumors. Arriving about six o'clock, I entered through what was a mean apology for a front door and found myself staring up the front stairs. Cn both sides were doors, and turning to enter the door on my left I stopped just in time to keep from pitching headlong into the cellar, for what had been the floor some time before had caved in and left nothing but a hole. I went back and entered the room on the right and saw that it had apparently been the sitting room. There was a table, sofa, and chair as furniture, and it was all, strangely enough, spotlessly clean. Here I decided to spend the night, so I proceeded to make my bed in the middle of the floor. The bed made, I decided to go outside and build a fire that I might cook some supper. Soon I had the coffee boiling and some ham fried, but when I sat down on the ground to eat, I discovered that I had left the sugar in the house so I went to get it. Wlhen I returned, I could see that the place where I had left my food was empty. There had been no one around, I knew, or I would have heard them. Puzzled, I washed the dishes and pro- ceeded to End something to occupy my time until dark. It was soon dark and I prepared to get into bed. I armed myself with a powerful flashlight and a revolver. How long I lay there I cannot say. but at last I dozed off in a troubled sleep. Suddenly I was awakened by the most blood-curdling yell that I have ever heard. For a minute I could not realize where I was, but when I came to, I grasped the gun in one hand and the light in the other. The beam of the light swept over the room but there was nothing that could make such a noise. Mean- while there came from upstairs the rattling of chains and curious moaning sounds such as I have never heard before. VVhile I was wonder- ing what could be causing the noises, some- thing cold like a cold draft swept past me and my arm went limp. I dropt the light and that is the last that I can remember. When I again awoke, there were several farmers bending over me with food and medicine. I heard some- one say something about not knowing whether I would live or not, so I made up my mind to find out what it was all about. I tried to get up but they would not let me. They said that they had been passing the house and had seen me lying on the grass out front. They said that I had a terrible gash on the side of my head, and by this time the pain made me realize that something was wrong.

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16 thought, he might have satisfied his desires with a mere blow of the dagger. In my opinion the words of Goethe, A beau- tiful, pure and most moral nature, without the strength of nerve which makes the hero, sinks beneath a burden which it can neither bear nor throw off, explained the reason for Hamlet's failure to take immediate action against his Uncle Claudius. I do not think that Hamlet was insane, his madness was merely feigned in order to test the King. If Hamlet had realized that the members of the Court would presume that he was insane, he might have turned to other means whereby he could prove the King's guilt. There was a strong contrast between the pretended madness of Hamlet and the real madness of Ophelia. Shakespeare presented Hamlet as an amus- ing character during this performance while the pitiful condition of Ophelia was intended by the dramatist to Hll the reader's heart with tenderness. Many critics have called it cruelty on the part of Hamlet, when he showed his bitterness to Ophelia. I do not think that Hamlet in- tended to be cruel. For several months he had been under a severe nervous strain, deciding how he was to keep the pledge to his dead father. When he went to Ophelia to obtain spiritual aid, he immediately realized that she was too weak to help him, and when he dis- covered at their next meeting that she was deceiving him, he lost all self-control and uttered words which she interpreted as mad- ness. Later in the drama we learned that Hamlet truly loved Ophelia by his words, I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers Could not, with all tlleir quantity of love, Make up my sum. Hamlet's scholastic abilities were portrayed by the sound advice which he gave the stroll- ing players, concerning the presentation of the play. Not only did Hamlet understand the art of play writing, but he was also an excellent actor. His knowledge of law was shown in his words of respect which abound in technical law terms, spoken over the skull of the lawyer. The Blue Er White His skill and courage as a fencer was also evident, for Claudius did not dare to rely on the skill of Laertes to kill Hamlet, and, fear- ing his skill, the King turned to dishonorable means to carry out his plans. Laertes' actions caused grief to Hamlet, for he trusted him and loved him as a friend. Be- fore the duel the apology of Hamlet to Laertes revealed his amiable and sensitive nature. It showed that he was sincere and sorry for their misunderstandings. Hamlet cannot be classified as a coward. He represented all that was excellent and pure in human nature, possessed with that certain in- definiteness with which all men are endowed. Some critics have said that it was cowardly of Hamlet to change the King's orders whereby his friends. Rosencrantz and Guildenstein, met death, but in my estimation this was not so. Could they be classed as friends, after Hamlet discovered their treachery? No. They proved disloyal to their friendship and therefore they were deserving of death. I agree with a criticism of Hazlitt, in which the true character of Hamlet is revealed that, Hamlet is a name, his speeches and say- ings but the idle coinage of the poet's brain. VVhat then, are they not real? They are as real as our own thoughts. It is we who are Hamlet. Whoever has become thoughtful and melan- choly through his own mishaps or those of othersg whoever has borne about with him the clouded brow of reflection and thought him- self 'too much in th' sun'-this is the true Hamlet. B. VV., '32, JOHN PHILIP SOUSA On March 6, 1932, our nation lost one of its most loved and famous citizens. john Philip Sousa. He died suddenly in the early hours of the morning at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Reading, Pennsylvania. Less than two hours before his death he attended a banquet given in his honor by the Ringgold Band of Reading, who were celebrating his 80th anniversary.