December 1957 School Magazine

December , 1957

December , 1957

Brisbane Girls ' Grammar School Magazine

:Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

"ADVANCE AUSTRALIA" On a recent trip t o Canberra, whilst sightseeing, we paid a visit to Parliament House. As we entered, we noticed inlaid in colourful rubber at our feet , a large (appro;imately nine feet by six feet) replica of the Austral- ian. coat of arms . As we stood admiring it , a Senator, seeing our interest , approached us and began to converse. He asked if we knew why it was that the emu and the kangaroo were depicted on the coat of arms in preference to other animals and birds. After a moment 's hesitation we suggested that it might be because these two creatures were peculiar to Australia. The Senator replied that this was correct, but the main reason was that neither the emu nor the kangaroo has ever been known to move backwards in its native haunts and so they are in keeping with our motto of "Advance Australia" . -N.S., IVB CHINESE POETRY The spirit of old China is nowhere expressed more trul y or more wistfully than in the poetry of this ancient land . The basis of Chinese civilisation is a qreat love for Nature. It is exoressed in the peasant 's ·i-rust and immem - orial labour in the " good earth", in the mystical Taoist doctrine of unity with the Infinite through contemplation of Nature, and the reception of Her divine tranquillity and in the choice of a mountain retreat for the position of a Buddhist monastery. It is the source of the great poetic and pictorial art of China. Most of the greatest poems were written in the Tan9 dynasty but the sensitivity to the beauty of the earth and the profound feeling for the mystery of the Universe pervades the whole history of Chinese civilisation. The affinity between painting and poetry is remarkable for the symbolism, and the creation of a vague atmosphere with foreground de ta il are features shared by both art forms. Symbolism is expressed in the phrase "heartless willows" used to describe the ?ecline of the dynasty. The transience of human mst1tut1ons IS subtly contrasted with the eternal serenity of nature. Ther·e are two types of Chinese poetry-that teaching a profound love of nature, and that teaching human content - ment and resignation. The quality of the first t ype strang- est to us. although it is present in Wordsworth and Shelley is the sublimation of the individual in a complete union w ith nature . This feeling of the sympathy between man 44

.and nature is so strong that natural objects assume human attributes in such metaphors as "idle flower" , "sad wind" . An example of the first type are these lines of Lui Tsung - Yuan: "I purify myself with cold water draw n fr om the well, The sun comes out through the haze , And the green pines gleam as if they were anointed with dew With a tranquil mind I abandon the written and spoken · word And find deep content in the joy of illumination ". In spite of this purification of the soul by nature , a profound melancholy seems to overhang Chinese ly rics . It springs from the realisation that man can never attam perfect ·comorehension of the force he seeks in nature- , " Reflecting on the immemorial and unending heaven and earth Alone with my grief I droo a tear ". However the Chinese accept this with a mellow resig- nation and an' eagerness to enjoy what they do know of Iife . The spirit of old China is passing , and the rough, inharmon- ious world of action and "progress " replacing it, but these T' ang" lyrics . still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing" . -GILLIAN ANDERSON, VIA. MOTHER LEARNS TO DRIVE THE CAR They say "Variety is the Spice of Life", and our family, :a small but happy one, has had its share of variety. The centre of all happy homes is a happy mother. My mo ther is a merry, contented soul who believes that the .past IS 9one .and forgotten . She lives from day to day, and, 1n her s1mple faith feels that ·rhe future is safe. 'My father is a man of few words, and general .ly agr~es with almost everything mother says. The test to h1s placid- ness however came when mother announced one day that she 'wanted t~ learn to drive the car. Father paled a little because he knew from past expe riences, that mother always had her own way. · He pictured the future without his new sedan . himself a widower with a motherless child. The thought was terrible. "Oh no I " he said with a groan. " Do~ ' t you drive the car". , Again mother won the day, and had fathers consent to learn to drive, but not with his new car. Forty pounds were then spent on an old Model T Ford for mother to 45