MCPL001342

Description:	CLASS OF 1924A PARODY ON THANATOPSISTo him who in the love of English holdsCommunion with her adjective forms, she speaksA various language; for his studious hoursShe has a voice of learning, and of a powerAnd eloquence of speech, and she glidesInto his want of knowledge with a wordAnd phrase unknown, that steals awayIts imperfection ere he is aware.Go forth, into the classroom, and listTo wise mens teaching, while from all around—Good English and her helpers, and the depths of learning—Comes a prophecy—Yet a few days, and thenThe all-detecting teacher shall see no moreIn all his classes; nor yet in the auditorium,Where those went forth to speak, with many qualms,Nor in the silence of the library, shall he seeThine image. Slang, that thou keepstWith thee, shall claimThy speech, to be resolved to slang againAnd lost each trace of study, surrendering upThine individual vocabulary, thou shalt goTo mix forever with the uneducated,To be a brother to the illiterateAnd to the careless speaker, which the hurrying worldTurns aside with disapproval, and stamps under foot.So speak, that when thy summons comes to joinThe quaking throng, which movesTo that mysterious realm, where each shall takeHis place in the affairs of life,Thou go not like the man afraid of not saying the right thingAt the right time, but sustained and soothedBy an unfaltering self-confidence; approach thy fateLike one who girds his swordAbout him, and goes forth to war.39
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloom/id/2520
Collection:	Bloomington High School

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