College News, 1933-12-06, Vol. 20, No. 08

              The College News
VOL. XX, No. 8
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1933
"opyilgllt   BRYN   MAWR
COLLKGK   NKWS.   1933
PRICE 10 CENTS
James Stephens Sees
Renaissance Ahead
Change    Is    Manifestation    of
Mind, Not Brain; Amer-
ica Leads Movement
JAZZ    ERA    HAS    ENDED
Mr. James Stephens, speaking on
"Our Overdue Renaissance," Tues-
day, November 27, prophesied, specu-
lated upon, and gave reasons for the
occurrence of a general renaissance
at this time, centering in this coun-
try, and made manifest in new lit-
erary forms and ideas. '
The Greeks had great power both
as manipulators of the human form
in marble and as philosophers.
Shakespeare had a comparable degree
of facility in his art. � In contradis-
tinction to this ease of expression we
find the pre-war artists turning to
violence for expression: Nietzsche's
philosophy, Rodin's sculptures, the
imagists, the cubists, the dadaists
paralleled in art the violence of the
suffragettes and the struggles of la-
bor and capital. The community felt
itself deficient somewhere so it adopt-
ed a spirit of violence, which inevit-
ably culminated in the World War.
From 1914 the world was growing
self-conscious: it realized its lack.
The social order was evolving so that
it might carry on. Violent forms of
dancing and of music alone typify the
jazz era, a movement introduced first
in America, the only country left with
energy enough to evolve and export.
James Stephens in a broadcast on
December 31, 1931, said that that day
was the last of the jazz era and that
with 1932 was coming a new epoch,
dependent upon mind instead of upon
brain. From 1914 to 1932 there was
a sort of lapse not fulfilling normal-
ly, in which living was not as it
should be. 1932 had outlived the
strange Victorian ...manner. Writers
had attacked the Victorian manner
with singular rage in an attempt to
destroy it. But their premeditated
destruction was only pretense; in
reality it was a destruction of the
horse age, of the age of peasantry,
and was attributable to progress in
the mechanical sciences. America's
work was precisely this: the inven-
tion of such things as the car, the ra-
dio, and the wireless destroyed the
peasantry, a class which exists only
upon isolation. The change is not
merely an external manifestation of
speeds; this new world is built by
the mind and the new era is a mani-
festation of mind.
The former world�a world of ani-
mal creation�is not present today.
Our world environment is a sense only
of other human beings. We seek no
longer after solidarity, but rather af-
ter this sense of ourselves and others
(Continued  in  Page  Three)
Dr. H. Flanders Dunbar
To Lead Sunday Chapel
(Especially Contributed by Sarah E.
Flanders, '35)
The Bryn Mawr League is most
fortunate in being able to get Dr.
Helen Flanders Dunbar to speak in
chapel, Sunday, December 10. Dr.
Dunbar is a graduate of Bryn Mawr,
and since leaving here has been
awarded an M.A. and a Ph.D. by Co-
lumbia University, a B.D. by Union
Theological Seminary, and an M.D.
by Yale School of Medicine. She is
now connected with the medical and
psychiatric staffs of the Columbia
Medical Center, New York, and is an
instructor at the College of Physi-
cians and Surgeons.
Dr. Dunbar has chosen for her
tonic�"Psyche and Health�Based on
Observations Made at Lourdes." She
spent seven weeks at Lourdes last
summer and had an opportunity to
study its significance both from the
medical and religious aspects.
Dr. Dunbar is staying after the
service and everyone is invited to
meet her... Coffee will be served in
the Common Room.
CALENDAR
nr
Thurs., Dec. 7. Shaw lecture
conference. Deanery, 2-4 P. M.
*Fri., Dec. 8. The Varsity
Players present The Knight of
the Burning Pestle, by Beau-
mont and Fletcher. Goodhart,
�.30 P. M. Tickets are on sale-
at the Publications Office. "",""�
Sat., Dec. 9. Varsity Hockey
Team vs. All-Philadelphia.
10.0Q A. M.
Sat., Dec. 9. The Varsity
Players present The Knight of
the Durttbig Pestle, by Beau-
mont and Fletcher. Goodhart,
8 30 P. M. The performance
will be followed by a dance in
the gym until 2.00 A. M. Tick-
ets for the dance are obtain-
able  from the committee.
Sun., Dec. 10. Katherine
Garrison Chapin (Mrs. Frances
Biddle) will read her Christmas
play, The Lady gf the Inn, and
the College Choir, under the di-
rection of Mr. Willoughby, will
sing carols. Deanery, 5.00 P. M.
Sun., Dec. 10. Chapel. Dr. H.
Fletcher Dunbar will deliver
the address on "Psyche and
Health." Music Room, 7.30
P. M.
Tues., Dec. 12. Mr. Alexan-
der Woollcott will speak on
"Confessions of a Dying News-
paper Man." Goodhart, 8.20
P.   M.
Wed., Dec. 13. French Club
Meeting. Common Room, 7.30
P. M.
Miss King Reviews
November Lantern
Editorial Challenges Students to
Attempt Self-Expression
in Literature
-------------                     �f
FORMAT    IS    APPROVED
James Stephens Discusses
Poetry at Informal Tea
At an informal tea given by Mrs.
Chadwick-Collins for James Steph-
ens, the poet entered into discussion
with a few students on many subjects,
including ghosts, criticism, college
poetry, methods of composition, and
jbscurity in modern works.
In speaking of ghosts ana spirits,
the poet declared it would be an un-
interesting world if there were only
the elements of good, and that he be-
lieves in reincarnation,�that, in fact,
he has a definite feeling that in his
next reincarnation he will be a female
and will in that case be able to come
to Bryn Mawr. The prospect pleases,
it seems, because he considers this
:ampus, with its atmosphere of quiet
�seclusion, one of the most beautiful
campuses he has ever visited.
Serious discussion got under way
with his being asked the difference
between poetry and prose. He said
the two had nothing in common. The
style of each differs in accordance
with its different purpose: prose re-
quires an argumentative style and
a form providing a beginning, a mid-
dle, and an end, whereas poetry de-
mands a thought complete unto it-
self.
After the reading of original po-
etry by several students in the group,
Mr. Stephens gave his views on criti-
cism. He said: "All real criticism
's destructive, for that is the essence
if criticism. A thing which is com-
plete and good is to be complimented,
not to be criticized." He stopped,
apropos of this, to remark upon the
perfect technique, the flowing quality
and the depth of thought in the poet-
ry read, and, reverting to explana-
tion of his terms, he. stated his be-
lief that only lesser poets display
emotion, and that the great poets
speak with passionate utterance,
neither human nor personal, but rath-
er anonymous and universal. The
words themselves must come to the
poet's drunken mind unconsciously.
"An aspiring poet must practice Yogi
exercises and fast and pray." Steph-
ens himself has an exercise which he
always uses before giving any pub-
lic speech. Five minutes before he is
going on the stage he spends entirely
alone, emptying his mind, and medi-
tating.
The fact that the art of poetry re-
quires no conscious preparation he
illustrated by his- own start in writ-
ing. He wrote no poetry until after
he was twenty-one years old. One
(Continued  on  Page Three)
(Especially  Contributed by Miss
Georgiana Goddard King)
One who served nearly six years on
the Lantern�the last of them, frank-
ly,- because no one else could be found
willing to carry on the job�must of
necessity year by year take up the
autumn issue with acute interest in
everything: format, typography, ta-
ble of contents, the color of the cov-
er and the color of the contents. Ob-
jectively, the November number of
1933 is peculiarly pleasant: the page,
the paper, and, above all, the print.
Subjectively, it is surprising. Not just
that apparently the whole magazine
is written by the editors, with, the ex-
ception of a book review and the poem
Respite, though indeed these two
pieces have most the air of inevita-
bility, of being spontaneously compos-
ed to get something off one's mind:
one an opinion, the other a feeling.
The Sonnet and The River have
both the aspect of being selected for
publication out of a private portfolio,
as though the writer had the habit
of writing; the one is grave, concern-
ed with inward things, the other fan-
ciful, descriptive, moody. But all
three pieces of verse are loyal to the
here and now, in sincerity of the best
sort. The two pieces, while not in
the .least old-fashioned, are more ten-
tative. Writing courses, which are
necessary dangers when they are not
heaven-sent opportunities, tend to en-
courage this kind. They are, never-
theless, neatly done; the choice of sub-
ject is significant, and all to the good.
The one-act play is an ingenious mur-
der-mystery, solved by the so-called
French system of reconstructing the
event. As everyone reads the Lan-
tern there is no need to relate the
plot. The opening dialogue which un-
folds it and places the figures might
perhaps be shorter, but the piece is
stage-thought, the mystery is sustain-
ed, and the, personages are sympa-
thetic.
The editorial is what amazes. Very
well written, it reads a burial service
over "pure literature," Among 497
students, of whom only a few may
adopt writing as a profession, is there
not enough creative impulse�of the
bubbling well, of the upward-leaping
flames � which is normal to human
youth, to carry a quarterly of forty
pages? The word, written and spoken,
is the one certain means of self-ex-
pression common to mankind. If the
student of economics has taken a
problem and shaken it and made a so-
lution or at least a conclusion, no
matter how tentative or temporary,
what she writes with fire will be read
with enthusiasm. Let instruction go
to the dogs. If the other student has
really enjoyed and understood some-
music strictly modern, a written page,
while telling the world, can enhance
her own private pleasure. Away with
edification! Not mutal self-improve-
ment, but communicated feeling, is
the function of art, and to the aft of
discourse we were all born, nor can
any calamity rob us of its exercise.
In short, the recommendation of the
editorial is all admirable except the
alleged motive and method. The sec-
tion on Quest ions and Comments
would be a goodly gift to the College
News, where conceivably such matter
belongs, yet it does very nicely where
it is.                                             0   .
The Lantern, then, is serious, rep-
resentative, and well-written. If in
the present state of the nation and
of the world, and in consequence of
the lectures and conferences on the
Shaw Foundation, the trend of
thought and feeling is as here deter-
mined, so much the worse for the
world and the better for the Founda-
tion. Surprisingly free from unreali-
ties and throw-backs, it is sincere, it
is nr^dern.                    ,
Art Exhibit
There is to be an exhibition
and sale of etchings by Andre
Smith, loaned by The Print
Corner, Hingham Center, Mass.
The etchings will be on view
in the South Corridor of the Li-
brary, December 6 to 20.
Jane Addams Finishes
Shaw Lecture Series
Greek Newspaper Likens
Bryn Mawr to Monastery
(The following article, discovered
and translated from a Greek news-
jmper by Dorothy Burr, '23, is re-
printed from the ALUMNAE BUL-
LETIN.)
In the United States, where man
can find all he can desire, there he
will find something unique in the
world�the antithesis of our absolute-
ly male democracy of Athos: the fe-
male university of Bryn Mawr.
Not far from Philadelphia, in a
place of almost incredible beauty, in
the foothills of the Alleghany moun-
tein (Alegkany), there is a most
charming as well as a strange settle-
ment. In the centre is a colossal,
nevertheless not an ungraceful build-
ing, before which stretch flowery
lawns several meters in length and
breadth. Right and left of the two
smarter buildings above are the other
buildings, each of which include about
200 public and private rooms. Be-
hind the three central building? and
in a wood which covers the side of
the foothills of the Alleghanies�are
charming little villas, little single
dolls' houses, with three, four, or af
the most five rooms.
The whole place is surrounded and
divided off by lawns, small artificial
lakes, gardens, tennis courts, grounds
for gymnastics and athletics, for golf
or cricket and all such activities,
which arc necessary to the life of a
well-brought-up Anglo-Saxon.
The region of the settlement holds
something magic, something not of
the world; it is, you think, when you
(Continued   on   Page  Two)
Faculty Hockey Game
Is Uproarious Affair
Polo and Golf Techniques Are
Major Threat in Faculty's
Performance
CONTEST ENDf IN DRAW
Varsity came up against a stiff for-
ward line with Dr. Blanchard and Mr.
Carlson making full use of their one-
handed polo-playing technique, Dr.
Watson's bea-utiful stickwork, Dr.
Nahm's steady plunges which result-
ed in two goals, and Dr. E. Diez's
neat chip-shots in the wing position.
The Faculty backfield proved to be
Varsity's Waterloo. Dr. M. Diez,
Dr. Turner, and Dr. Metzger offered
a stolid defense wall, which was back-
ed by Dr. Broughton with his tricky
dodges and by Dr. Richtmeyer who
proved himself an excellent mashie
shot, to say nothing of Dr. Dryderi,
who defended his cage nobly in the
well-known attitude of an ice hockey
goalie.
All in all, the game provided plen-
ty of thrills and excitement for the
spectators and much amusement for
the players of both teams. Basket-
ball is next on the schedule and it's
a good team that can beat any Fac-
ulty quintet in thU sport. Until then
�Cheerio.             ^
The line-up was as follows:
Faculty                              Varsity
Dr. Nahm    .....r. w......Taggart
Mr. Carlson    ...r. i.........Faeth
Dr. Blanchard    .c. f..........Kent
Dr. Watson   ___1. i.........Lamed
Dr. E. Diez.....1. w.........Brown
Dr. M. Diez ___r. h.........Evans
Dr. Turner   -----c. h........Bright
Dr. Richtmeyer.1. h......Bridgman
Dr. Metzgei    ...r. f.........Bishop
Dr. Broughton  .1. f......Rothermel
Dr. Dryden  .....g...........Smith
Goals�Faculty: Dr. Nahm, 2; Dr.
Blanchard, 1.   Varsity:    Faeth, 3.
Substitutions � Faculty: Miss
Brady for Dr. E. Diez, Dr. Welles
for Dr. M. Diez.
Efficacy   of   Non-Resistance   Is
Demonstrated by Ghandi
Policy in India
NATIONALISM IS THREAT
" 'Older men propose causes for
which young men die'�so runs the
formula of caustic realism^with which
youth of the present generation
brushes aside all idea of the nobility
of war," said Miss Jane Addams, at
the opening of her lecture, the last
of the Anna Howard Shaw Memorial
Series, entitled Opportunities of tKt
New Day, in Goodhart Hall, Monday
night, December 4.
The peace movement since the war
has embraced a wide diversity of
adherents, among whom there is,
again, a wide diversity of immediate
aims. Churches, schools and colleges,
women's clubs, and Chambers of
Commerce,�almost every part of the
social order has striven for peace.
Some look first toward prohibition of
military training in schools; some
hope for renunciation of the Monroe
Doctrine, which they consider harm-
ful; some would have the Japanese
put on the quota; some wish to with-
draw the marines from the Caribbean.
All, however, unite in one ultimate
objective�to make war less probable,
if not impossible.
Exaggerated estimate of one's own
country, fostered by nationalistic
propaganda during the war, has stood
in the way of post-war peace meas-
ures. This was particularly mani-
fest in the spirit of economic nation-
alism which continually stood in the
way of the International Ecenomic
Conference, held last summer in Lon-
don.
The Wheat Commission of that
Conference considered, not how much
wheat must be produced to feed the
world, but how much could be sold in
the market. While they lamented huge
surpluses, they were not conscious of
the famished communities in China
to whom wheat might be fed. Their
instincts were purely commercial, in
a narrowly nationalistic spirit.
The Conference did, however, repre-
sent a good initial effort, an instance
of world-wide economic planning,
which will be followed, we hope, by
the acceptance of human needs, not
profits, as the cornerstone on which
to build production.
Nineteenth century demands for
self-government and democracy have
now become pleas for economic secur-
ity. Opponents to peace, neverthe-
less, think force will still be necessary
to provide this security � either to
maintain the present economic sys-
tem, or to change it for a better, or
to put down opponents to such a
change once constitutionally effected.
Any treatment of peace efforts
(Continued   on   r hi:"   Five)
Art Class Hears Alumna
Lecture on Iconography
Monday morning in First Year His-
tory of Art class Margaretta M. Sal-
inger, Jjryn Mawr, '28, and holder of
a Traveling Fellowship. '29-'30, spoke
on Iconography. Miss Salinger is an
authority on the two subjects she se-
lected, the Vesperbild and the Throne
of Grace in Sacred Art, since she
has studied under Professor Pinder
of Munich, and is now Special Cata-
loguer to the Department of Paint-
ings at the Metropolitan in New
York. Her analysis of the motifs was
especially interesting to the class,
which had plumbed the depths of ig-
norance on iconography in the late
scheduled quiz.
The Vesperbild is a representation
of the Virgin and Jesus after His
descent from the cross and may not
be confused with the Pieta, which is
an historical picture of the same
event in the Passion, and includes the
figures of the Marys and certain of
the Apostles. The name, Vesperbild,
is derived from the time of day at
which this part of the Passion oc-
(Contlnuea  on   rage Three)
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