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About The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1891)
jMr - - 11 8 THE HESPERIAN. SI with the poem before us, not one, perhaps, inn thousand claims before they arrived. So some men think to approprU will grasp the full meaning that this poem is meant to y ate all the rescned scats in the New Jerusalem. We hope that these few suggestions will awaken an inter est and give sufficient light apon the poem that will encour- convey. I read the poem over once, threw it aside; simple, trite, mechanical was my verdict. Soon, however, I began to reflect; for some unaccountable reason the words of the poem still rang in my ears. I began to study it. I studied it as a whole, then each vcisc, and finally took it up word by word. To most students time is too precious to engage in this kind of work, therefore I have consented to give to such a general idea of this simple yet profound poem.' Taken as a whole the poem is meant to teach a lesson of duty. So long as the persons mentioned rushed ahead in a straight line there was no trouble, but one by one they allowed worldly matters to turn them aside and thus missed z goal of life, which is here represented by their return to the place of starting. Notice in the first verse the facts wc are put in possession of. The first line tells us that the persons with whom the poem is concerned are bykcrs, university bykeis, and that they were six in number. The next line is not so good. The author has used "alive" no doubt to rhyme with "live." This is simply a poetical license that docs not detract any thing from the poem. Notice the world of meaning that is crowded into the next two lines. We learn the t.amt of one of these bykcrs and also that he met his girl. What did he do? Keep on in the line of duty? No, for the author tells us in the next line that the number oi the bykcrs speeding on were now reduced to five. Mow this docs not mean that the byker was no more. All the author would have us infer is that he probably stopped to talk and allowed his companions to distance him in the race. Hut wc must hasten on. It is plain to see now that a hundred lines ofpiosc can be easily cxpicscd in a single line of poetry. As literature and civili .ation advance, no doubt man will converse in poetical forms of speech altogether. In the second veise wc learn that the destination of the bykcrs was Wavcily and that Dowling, by a lack of attention to his wheel bcfoie starting, was compelled to give up the tiip. This is meant to impress upon students the impoi lance of a thorough preparation before the journev of lile is under taken. The next veise contains another illustration of iuat tcntion to duty. Bulla, no doubt, was riding along tvith his eye and thoughts upon the beautiful scenery on either side, thus allowing his wheel to wander from the straight road in which the others were riding. So with us through lile there come fines when everything is so pleasant there seems to be no danr,cr of wandering a little from the path of duly, but soon ue strike a temptation and, like this pooi youth, over wc go, lust forever. In the next vcisc the bykeis have stopped, piesumably, for relrcshmculs and each is given a chance to rest a little. While the others arc examining their wheels and making preparations for a continuation of the journey, Fling began a lliitnliou which, as the author inlima'es, culm'natcd in his downfall. The next vcisc is peihaps the most obscure verse in the whole poem. Now it !o:s not mean, as one would at first suspec , that these uui. bojs ran a tnuius or that a taurus simp y ran, for notice the following lines. It is plain that it was ih. boys were inn by the tain us and not the taurus by the joys, else what foice would there be in the last line? The last verse shows that there was but one poor youth that returned or reached the goal. A great liuth is reached al this point, Not only should a person have a goal but he should not try to monopolize that goal. This youth, whose name,,-o far as the poem goes, remains in obscurity, sought to take undue advantage of his fellows by pre-empting their age others to make a yet closer study of this work than I have had time o do. The sophomore-junior game was declared off by mutual consent. Is this class spirit? It is pretty safe to say that there is no oilier class in school that would be willing to take last place in any contest by mutual consent.. It is no legiti mate excuse that one or two men are indisposed to play, and therefore give up the game. It is no excuse for a team not to play because it has no show for the pennant. If these games arc to be kept up in the future the whole scries must be played. A team that is discouraged over one defea shows that it is more of the sterner stuff that it needs. The game with the high school eleven demonstrat c beyond a doubt that the university has plenty of good mater ial for a second eleven. With a lcasonnblc amount of train ing and a few grains of energy by some one, a second team can be sent out that w 11 be more than a match for any other, team in the state. A start should be made this fall and by another year the team should have suits and u good organiza tion. This would greatly strengthen the first eleven also. In cases of emergency the first eleven could draw players from the second eleven who would be in good training. Let some one take a sacred vow this year to sec toittlut asccond eleven be oiganized here next year. THE It ACT. l'OIl THE PENNANT. The Seniors and I'lcMiinoli Moot Senior, 30;' Fresh men, 10. The third class game for the pennant was played on the campus November 7, A great deal of interest was manifested in ihe game as it was well understood by all that this game would practically settle the pennant question. The seniois begun the game somewhat handicapped from the fact that two or throe members of the team were in a poor condi tion to play. The fieshmcn perhaps fared little better in this respect. The same mcmbcis composed the teams as in the games before. The freshmen secured choice of goal, tak irg the north and the seniors the south. '92 started out with the same vim that characterized her playing in the senior-junior game. Tht ball was foiccd over the freshmen's goal before ihcy had time to take a long breath. The wind .vas unfavorable for goal kicking and White missed goal twice during the first half, a thing which seemed to greatly please the juniors. Twice during ibis half the freshmen had the ball within a few steps of their opponents' goal line but were outmatched by the stronger rush line of the seniors The score stood at the end of ihe first half: seniors, 18, fresh men, o. In the second hall the seniors having but one substitute, Maghcc, to fall back on, determined to play on the defensive and save the men already injured. The freshmen must cer tainly have resolved upon several things also, as Richards relieved Ferguson and all played much better during this half. The ball was advanced by the freshmen at the start well toward the seniots' goal until a kick by some on. sent it across the line and Lyman fell on, Nusz kicked goal. The seniors now kept their grip on the ball and charged the weak places in the opposite rush line, steadily adyancipg it, tpvvard the fatal goal. It was soon reached and White .pulled him self together and kicked goal. The ball went ,to4he -center and was again advanced py, the seniors jr. the same, way as TWiilWWm 1iH1Mnn?!m'tt!,ii .11