The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1933-12-02

or not otherwise credited in this
newspaper and also the local news OF
spontaneous origin published herein.
All rights Of republication OF all other
matter herein are also reserved.
mot Finished, But Begun"
In connection with the golden an
niversary Of the william Moore
school, historians Of that ancient and
honorable edifice reached into the
archives OF the past and came up
with a class poem, titled mot Fin
ished But Begun" and presented Is
the effort Of Lynn spery. -.
It is a long time since Lynn spery
and his classmates stood on the plat
form to receive their diplomas on
that lar-away June day. FOR the
author many things were to inter-
yene before tho time when q searcher
after antiques was to restore that
six-stanza poem to the light Of
critical comment. Two wars were
to come and 60, with Sper-
~ going half way around the
earth to participate in one Of them.
We were to get prohibition-and see
It collapse. Greats and near-greats
were to strut their little day in the
sun and then disappear.
And now the poem reappears. per-
haps to amuse the man who wrote
it. perhaps to bring memories Of
faces that have gone. never more To-
return.
With all respect to Lynn sperry's
muse. not all Of the poem Is worth
reprinting. There are points in 1t
where one pictures the schoolboy
biting at his pencil and searching In
agonized thought for word to rhyme
with one which had gone before it,
or the correct turn OF Z phrase to
preserve the meter.
There are q lot Of homely truths
in the poetic effort. Of course. for
Lynn sperry's generation was nur-
tured on them, even though it has
had to learn. by bitter experience, how
to apply them and to ascertain for
itself that some Of them are hardly
ever applied 1T all.
Take. for example. the opening
couplets Of the third stanza which
reads:
"Our public schools were not designed
FOR loafing or for fun:
rAnd those who've borne In mind this
fact
"FIave always fought and won.
"Boys and girls who. while In school,
ITO lessons pay no heed,
sWill have to struggle very hard
rlf ever they succeed"
One wonders little how that STIR
ring prophecy worked out or II, per-
chance. the class OF ~ boosted Of
some school sluggard who afterward
found opportunity to dabble in the
stock market and made q fortune.
Such untoward things have happened.
The fifth stanza contains sage ad-
VICE which, now as then, Is OF such
merit ~ to deserve careful consid-
Grafton by al who read. Here 1t is:
I'm Teasing on the learned fruits
'Remember number two,
(which =, Don't take too large q bite
For one small mouth to chew
"otlr future battles we shall fight
"And when our work is done,
"Oh. may It not be said Of US:
= Not finished, nor begun"
Thus in these troubled times, we
have voice out Of the past sounding
as wholesome . suggestion a. one
could wish for.
The world could do much worse
than refuse to bite off more than It'll
can chew or to confine itself to the
matters in hand without worrying too
much about the future. II all Of us
would learn to fight our battles as
they come We might improve the
current standard. The need for CIV
ing thought to tomorrow should not
prevent us from doing our best With
today.
FOR when the class OF Bismarck,
~. along with all the other classes |
of oil other schools, has trod its way
into the raists Of the future, the pr!n.
clples for real success and right liv-
ing will remain the same. They have
net changed much in the recorded
history Of man and ore not uhely to !
change much IN the future. The
world itself = mot finished, but Be.
gun"
pre-~rinr fnr plaUrn