December 1955 School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magaz;ne

December, 1955

December. 1955

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magaz:ne

THE SMILE Cool , sweet, slightly mocking and complttely fascinating, her enigmatic smile has perplexed her lovers down the cen- tu r ies . vVhat was Mona Lisa smiling at when Leonardo da Vinci captured her strange expression in paint, to preserve it for all time~ Why has her lovely face held generations en- tranced, ever since the splendid days of the Medicis ~ Her fin e, dark hair falls softly over her shoulders t hat are white and shapely, and her fine clothing is rich with the splendour of an era long past away. Her calm hands are beautiful in t heir tranquility. The shadowy ravines and hill s of t he background echo her mysterious loveliness. But what makes her ser enity so provocative~ It is her timeless smile. One wonders what thou ghts passed t hrough her mind in f; eonardo 's studio long ago that made her smile like that, as the artist painted slowly. Perhaps she was merely revtl ling in her beauty. There is a li t tle of a rr·ogance and complete know- ledge of her charms in her expression. Perhaps she was enjoy- ing the luxu rious quality of her gown, or thinking of banquets she had been to, where men had crowded round her to pay homage to her heauty, while fiddl ers played and soft-footecl servants decked the tables with f c·od and wine. P erhaps she thought of those who would see her portrait in tirue to come, and wonder wh at sort of a woman she had be&n, and surrender to her loveliness. Maybe she saw the long· procession of her children' s children and their descendants , who would be fo·rgotten, so soon, while she is remembered, and her beauty known to half the civilized world. All else surrounding her life is indistinct with the passage of Hme. She may have been good or bad, we do not know. Only her smile, with its strange quality of awareness, sun ives, and continues to puzzle us, four centuries . after her deat. h. - P. ROGERS (VA) ''THE POOL'' Thick were the vines that hid the dark pool; Steep were the sides of the bank ; Long were the r eeds that choked the ripple That was stirred by the slow, sly eel.

LIFE

At dawn, I saw her A large green glistening dewdrop. Little did I think from within this new-born gem Could blossom forth A rose . As the sun rose, and the green velvet gown Fell to the earth, revealing The tender petals, caressing a golden heart And quivering with happiness , holding her proud head erect, She rejoiced that she was young. The sun rose higher, and the curling edges Of the delicate petals Slowly rolled back to display Her deepening crimson magnificence At the peak of life. But the growing heat This blushing beauty caused to bend Her modest head, and one by one let fall Her rosy drops, the last sign of life , To the brown earth, from whence she sprang.

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-JUDITH BURNETT (VIA)

No sound; no stir; no breath To burst the silent hours; Only dark; only depths , dark depths of fear; The sinister haunt of the spirits-her e. Ghostly, ghastly and eerie the night When the mist s eeped in through the vine;

And white turned the pool, And grey turned the r eeds , And thick grew the silence there. Then suddenly burst a thunder 31

"THE FORBIDDEN PET"

N. BUCHANAN, IVA.

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