The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-07-10

story Of two young men, one OF
the north, the other Of the south,
but through their adventures,
sharply imagined and colorfully
drawn, sweep the tides Of battle,
the waves Of the blue and the
waves Of the gray. The tragic
pageantry Of civil war moves
through the story; the armies, In
their magnificance and their inep.
titude are there the splendor OF
victory, the misery of rain-drench.
ed defeat. The leaders breathe and
move, memorably depicted. The
poet defends no cause, attacks
none. He sees his country, bleed
Ing and agonized, and, regarding
her tragic division from the per-
spective Of three-score years, tells
with sympathetic detachment the
unhappy and yet glorious story.
The poem breathes youth and ad-
venture; It marches with q mans
stride and, as one critic has said,
Conveys with fine fervor the sense
Of doom and twisted destiny which
overshadows the war between the
states"
In awarding the medal to Mr.
Benet, the trustees Of the Roosevelt
Memorial association took account
Of Theodore Roosevelts own en-
thusiasm for the whole treatment
In literature Of American them s.
They were mindful also Of the pass
age In his address az president Of
the American historical association
In, 1912-possibiy the most brilliant
and imaginative which he ever
wrote-in which he pointed, In
words that have themselves the
movement and color Of poetry, a
picture Of history as the historian
Of the future, combining science
and imagination, must write It. 1t
Is because John Browns Body"
meets to o striking degree the re.
quirements as Theodore Roosevelt
there stated them that the trustees
have awarded the associations
medal to Mr. Benet.
stephen Vincent Benet is, except
for Colonel Lindbergh and Admiral
Byrd, by some 20 years the young
est of the 20 distinguished Ameri.
cans to whom the Roosevelt medal
has been awarded. He was born In
Bethlehem, Pa, July 20, 1898, went
to school In California and Georgia
and graduated from Yale in 1919.
He published his first volume OF
poetry, give Men and Pompey"
when he was II. Among his other
books Of verse are Young Adven-
ture," Heaven and Earth" young
Peoples Pride" 1.-THE Ballard OF
William Sycamore, 1700-1SS0" and
"Ballards and Poems" He has pub
lished three novels. Mr. Benet was
awarded a Guggenheim fellowship
In 1925 and spent two years In
France where he wrote John
Browns Body" The poem received
the Pulitzer prize In 1928.
Awards Established In 1928
The Roosevelt awards, which
were esta blished by the Roosevelt
Memorial association In 1923, are
annually given, as q rule, In three
out Of II fields associated with Mr.
Roosevelts career: public and In
ternational law; industrial peace;
science; American historical litera-
ture; outdoor life; national de-
tense; international affairs; admin.
istration Of public Office; conserva-
ton Of natural resources; advance
ment OF social Justice; expression
OF the pioneer virtures; leadership
OF youth and the development Of
American character.
In 1928 the medals were award.
ed to Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler, to
DR. Henry Fairfield Osborn, and to
General Leonard Wood. President
Harding presented the medals per-
sonally In the White House before
O gathering Of notabies In the east
room, which included members Of
the cabinet, ambassadors and dis
tinguished officers OF the army and
navy. President Coolidge bestowed
the medals In the White House In
1924 and 1925.
In 1924 the medals were award
cd to Elihu Root, oliver Wendell
Holmes and Charles w. Eliot; In
1926, to Clifford Pinchot, George
Bird, Grinnell and Martha Berry;
In 1929 to william s. Sims, Albert
J. Beveridge and Daniel Carter
Beard; In 1927, to John J. PERISH
ing, Herbert Hoover and John
Bassett Moore; In 1928, to Charles
Evans Hughes, Frank M Chapman
and Charles A. Lindbergh; In 1920
to Herbert Putnam, owen Wister
and owen D. Young; In 1880 to
Richard T. Byrd, William Green
and Hornell Hastings Hart; In
1881, to BENJAMIN N. Cardozo,
Hamlin Garland and c.. Hart Mer-
riam; In 1882 to Robert A. Mill.
kan,