OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16121, 9 July 1914, Page 2

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS. (Conducted by Magistkb, to whom all 06mmuuicutions must bo addressed.) [ATagistcr will be glad to receive Nature Notes, marked pajwra containing educational articles, (liagiums, detaile of exparhneuta, ebo., of scholttntio inU-iest to teachers and pupils. Correspondents uiuat u«i ONLY ONK SIUK of the paper, aud whether using a pen natuo or not, muut send both same and address.] "SHAKESPEARE AND NATURE." Some time ago 1 gavo a list of flowers in a. .Shakespeare Garden in London, and now wo are inaugurating a Shakespeare Garden in Dunedin. On Monday, aa you know, Ellen Terry, tho world-known interpreter of Shakespeare's heroines, planted a treo, and in a short time lovers of the Bard of Avon will bo able to oxerciso their memories and their knowledge of botany when walking through this corner of our Botonic Gardens.

A short time ago at a meeting of the Southland Naturalist-*' Society, Miss E. Hodgkinson read a most interesting paper on '-yhakespeare and Nature." A reader of our columns sent it to me, and I do not think I can do better than publish the part dealing with the Shakespearean flora. Perhaps another day I'll give what Miss Hodgkinson had to say on the Shakespearean fauna: —

"Lovo of Nature is a characteristic of English poetry. Chaucor shows it strongly, and from his time downwards nearly all our best known poets are remarkable for tho fidelity with which they describe scenery and animated Nature. It may be said that tho poetry of all countries abounds in reference to Nature. But in some schools of poetry, as the classical French poetry of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, and the English writers influenced by it as Pope and Dryden, Nature is treated in a conventional way. We do not feel that the poet writes of what he ha» observed and what hfl loves as we do when reading the true Nature [wets. It is natural that English poetry should show love of Nature, since the English are eminently a Nature-loving people. Charles II is reported to have said that in England a man might spend more time out of doors than in any other country. Presumably he meant m active exercise <and sport, for certainly the English climate is unsuited to a doJco far niento outdoor existence. Probably social history has aided in producing the English love of Nature and of country life. The influential .middle classes are—or were—largely country residents, and the countrv sports of hunting, shooting, and fishing havo formed the chief diversions of the well-to-do classes. It is then fitting and natural that our greatest poet should display knowledge and love of Nature.

"Shakespeare, as we al 1 know, was born and spent his youth in the small town of Stratford-on-Avon, in Wan-' kshire. Like other boys in a similar situation, he spent much of his time in roaming the meadows and woods round his village, searching for birds' nests in spring, and for nuts and woodland fruit in autumn, fishing in river ar.d brook, watching the sports of the landed gentry, and incidentally gaining the knowledge and love of natural things his writings reveal. His affection for the home of his youth never cooled. We know that when he h{jd acquired a competence he re turned to spend the autumn of his life there, and throughout his life he chose to be known by the designation, 'William Shakespeare, of Stratford-on-Avon.' "We see from some remarkable references to him by contemporaries or writers of the next generation that his insight into Nature was appreciated then as now. Ben Jonson in his famous eulogy says: — Nafcnre herself was proud of his designs, And joyed to wear tho dressing of his lines. " And Milton speaks of him as -. Shakespeare, fancy's sweetest child, Warbling his native woodnotes wild. "The reference may be primarily to the spontaneity of Shakespeare's art But in tho last quoted line particularly, we may seo recognition of the influence of the rural scenes in which he grew up in moulding his later thought. "Shakespeare's allusions to Nature all through life show how deeply the impressions of his early days had sunk into his mind. The scenery of his plays is English, even when this does not accord with the imagined background of the drama; the birds and animals, flowers and trees, he introduces, except for some that are common property of poets, aa the lion, the tiger, the wolf, the eagle, the pelican, etc.—are what he know in Warwickshire woods and meadows. In his day there was little study of local colouring nor attempt at historical accuraoy. Wo know that ho gavo Bohemia a sea-ooast, and introduced cannon into tho battles of King John. Perhaps if he had given the matter thought he would have considered it more conducive to truthful effect to paint the Nature he knew than to compose a picture from hearsay or study. Thus in the forest of Arden, though a lioness is introduced for the sake of dramatic effect, the scenery is really that of England. The wood of "The Midsummer Night's Dream' has its 'faint primroso beds' in spring; its oxlips, woodbine, and eglantine later in the year And Cupid's dart, missing 'the Imperial votaress, enthroned in maiden meditation, fancy-free,' falls on 'a little western flower' the 'love-in-idleness' of English meadows. Shakespeare is true to the Nature ho knew, and he docs not trouble about aspects unknown to him. "And if we must look for geographical oongruity in Shakespeare, neither, of course, must we look for scientific accuracy. Some critics have rather absurdly reflected on Shakespeare's knowledge of Nature because ho did not understand the whole economy of the bees' commonwealth, and spoke of the sovereign as king instead of queen. Shakespeare is at least as accurate in speaking of bees as Virgil, who apparently kept them himself, and was professedly giving directions about beekeeping. Between Virgil and Shakespeare there had been next too no advance'in natural science. Shakespeare did not examine scientifically, dissect and classify; he saw what all might see, but what few did see so well as he.

"Again, in estimating Shakespeare's treatment of natural things, we must remember that man, not Nature, was his theme. We cannot .expect him to give tho full and detailed descriptions of Nature we find in reflectivo and descriptive poets, such as Thomson', Cbwper, Wordsworth, and Tennyson. He brings vin Nature incidentally, as part of his stage scenery, or by way of simile and metaphor. But, thus casually introduced, his references show the matchless observation and sympathy that characterise his treatment of human life.

"It has been statod that 20 kinds of trees and no fewer than 76 birds are named by Shakespeare, most of these, as said above, being characteristic English Species. Some of the birds arc kinds that only one familiar with the country would think of, as the lapwing, the bunting, etc. And they are introduced by some phrase that just hits off their dist'netive appearance or habits: as 'the ouzel-<;ock (blackbird) so black of hue, with orango-tawney bill.' He often alludes to insects with the same exact characterisation. For example, "The small grey-coated gnat," "A red-hipped humble bee on the top of a thistle.' "The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums!' "His descriptions of flowers are exquisite : — „ Daffodils, that come before the' swallow dares, ami take The winds of March with beauty, violets dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes Or Cvtherea's breath; pale primroses That"lie unmarried ere they can behold Bright Phrebus in his strength. The cowslips tall her pensioners be; In their gold coats spots yon sec; These be rubies, fairy favours; In these freckles live their savours; I must go seek some dewdrops here And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear. "Ho often alludes to the dews of morning gemming the flowers: — The marigold that goes to bed with the sun, And with him rises weeping. "And in the song in Cymbelinc: — Hark, hark, the lark at Heaven's gate sings, And . Phoebus 'gins arise His steeds to water at those springs On chaliced flowers that lies; Anil pretty mary-buds begin To ope their winking eyes. "Poor crazed Ophelia makes herself garlands of the wild flowers that grew on the banks of the Avon, 'crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples.' Perdita, in her rustic garden refuses' to cultivate carnations and streaked gulliflowcrs, because in producing them"she joins with 'great creating Nature.' It is hazardous to deduce an

author's own sentiments from tho words he

puts in the mouth of a character, but one feels inclined to see here some indication of Shakespeare's own tastes. At all eveiits, it is plain that he prized the common cottage flowers, and wild flowers that many would pass over as mere weeds. Perdita offers her guests the test cottage flowers of the season when 'the year grows ancient, not yet on summer's death'—lavender, mints savoury, marjoram, marigolds, and the rosemary <ind rue that keep their freshness and scent through winter. "The brothers in Cymbelinc say that Imogen's grave shall not lack 'the flower that's Ukc thy face, pale primrose, nor azured harebell, like thv veins, nor leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander, outsweetened not thy breath, nor furred moss besides when flowers arc none.' "It is interesting, in view of tho Shake-speare-Bacon craze, to compare Bacon's references to trees and flowers with Shakespeare's. Bacon wrote an essay on 'G*r-

dons,' which certainly shows appreciation of the beauty of plants. 'God he nays, 'first planted it garden, and indeed it if (he purest of human pleasures.' Jlut he catalogue* rnprcly ; ho scarcely uses an adjective to characterise, a plant, lie was not writing poetry, it may In- said, lint neither w(i:i lie writing a scientific treati.se: the essay is' a form of composition allnwiug tlie fullest scope for tho play of an author's personality, and if i-jhakoKpearu had written an essay on gardens we may be sure it would have been informed with his imagination, and -would havo abounded in such felicities of characterisation as we find in his poems."

THE SOUTHERN STARS, JULY 12,

9 l\M. J. F. Monms, Roslyn. Tho broken up and blank regions of tho Milky Way aro still very much in evidence, during the early hours of the July evenings. The axial rotation, and the orbital revolution, of the Earth both combine to cause an apparent daily and yearly circular motion in'the Milky Way." If you look at tho Milky Way about 9 p.m. (Dunedin time) on July 12 you will notice that the general trend of tho Galaxy (.Milky Way) is from the S.W. horizon upwards tc the zenith, descending thence to tho N.E. horizon. On July 13, at 6 a.m., you will notice tho Galactic Stream right down near the southern, eastern, arid (perhaps) the northern horizon. 0 . On July 12, at noon, tho Milky Way will come to the meridian with the Sun. Being daylight, wo shall not be able to seo it, but if we could we would bo able to see (he whole region of the unbroken part of tho Galactic stream with the glorious region of Sirius and the giant hunter Orion. Tho apparent motion continues until tho evening of July 13. At about four minutes sooner than ou tho evening of the 12th the Milky Way is again N.E. to S.'W. Now this apparent change of position in the Milky Way, during the 24 hours, is an exact reproduction of the axial rotation of tho earth. The orbital revolution is also reproduced. Watch tho region of Argo, with its advance outpost Canopus. In mid-July, at midnight, it is almost N. and S. on the meridian, Argo and its chief star, Canopus, being at the southern end, Scorpio and its chief star, Antaree, being at the zenith. Down towards tho northern horizon we can just make out Cygnus, the Swan. Hrlfway between tho Swan and the zenith we can sec Altair, the Eagle, a bluish white star, No 12 on the Harvand photometric list; brilliancy, 0.9; altitude nt Dunedin, about 35deg 33min. At this time —that is to say,-mid-night in mid-July, the Galactic Stream will be slightly on the western side of the meridian lino! As the Earth moves along the orbit, the Galaxy, month by month, has an apparent westerly drift. This westerly drift will become more and more apparent as we watch the Milky Way during the midnights of August and September, dates about 15th. By the first week in October the westerly drift will have reached its maximum. The Gali.xy will look the same at midnight as it would appear on July 15 at 6 a.m. Sirius and tho Hunter will be in the eastern sky at midnight when the westerly Galactic drift will have reached its maximum at midnight. The whole of tho Galactic stream will lie all along tho horizon, except for the brilliant section lying between the S.E. and N.E., of which Sirius and the Hunter are the out potts. During the first week in November the Galaxy will appear in the eastern heavens at midnight and Canopus, Sirius, and the Hunter will be again in full evidenco at midnjight, with Procyon on the eastern border. By the bye, Sirius used to be on the eastern" border not far from her sister, Procyon ; but that is a story for another article. Wo pointed out that) .a October at midnight, the eastern section of the Galaxy, tho portion lying between the S.E. <:nd N.E. horizons, will not be visible. In November, at midnight, the opposite is. the case. The Galactic stream will then be visible low down from the S.W. point to ;he N.W. point, while the western horizon lying between those two points will be out of the range of the Galactic circle. As tho Earth moves along the orbit the Milky "Way apparently moves from "the eastern horizon towards tho zenith, crossing the zenith at midnight on December 20. It then moves westerly, passing the meridan about two hours sooner each monthly interval until, so far as we in southern latitudes are concerned, it reaches its western limit between 7 and 8 p.m. the last week in October. So you can actually see the rotation of the Earth on its axis by the manner in which tho Milky Way moves round the sky (on a pivot, as it were) during the 24 hours, and you can see the orbital movement .reproduced by the western movement each month. .Frcm the very earliest times the Galactic stream has arrested the attention of all shades of civilised culture. It has been spoken of as the pathway of the gods between the Halls of Eternal Light and this rether world of ours, It is the "Jakobsstrrsso" (Jacob's Ladder) of the German mother when telling her children about tho Patriarch's dream and his encounter with the angel. Our great classical poet, the noble Milton, writes of the Milky Way: — Broad and ample road whose dust is gold And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear, Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way, Which might, as a circling zone thou seest Powdered with stars. Wo could prolong this article indefinitely had wo only space and time; but we must draw it to a close and pass on to the more prominent stars which are visible in the July sky on the 12th. Our nearest neighbour, Alpha Oentauri, will now have fallen away from the zenith. The Cross will bo lower down, being halfway down towards the S.W. The scattered constellation of Argo will be lower down on the border of the Milky Way; its principal star, Canopus, will now be almost duo south. Achernar will now have parsed tho lowest point of its circumpolar circle. On the morning of the 16th Achernar will pass the Dunedin meridian at about 6 o'clock. The clouds of Magellan are now duo south, between Canopus and Achernar. Over in tho S.E. we can seo the Crane and tho Golden Fish. Fomalhaut is now in the evening sky at any time after 7 o'clock at Dunedin. Ca.pricornus and Aquarius havo now risen clear of the eastern horizon. Coming west, we have the interesting constsllatioDS of the Archer and the Scorpion. Tho chief star in the Scorpion, the beautiful red star Antares, will pass the Dunedin meridian about 9 a.m. on July 12. On tho western side of the zenith we see Spica, the "Ear of Corn" in the VTngin's hand; while between the Virgin and the Scorpion lies Libra, the Balance. Down towards the west we seo tho last of Leo; its principal star. Rogulus, has disappeared, but hte second brightest star (Beta Lexmis) Denebola is still visible to good eyea Its altitude at Dunedin will be about 29deg. To the north of Spica we can see the Herdsman, its principal star, Arcturus, is numbered third on tho Harvard photometric scale. Arcturus will Ixi on the Dunedin meridian about 7 p.m. on July 12, altitude not very high, about 24deg 33min at Dunedin. Another bright star wiil cross our Dunedin meridian about mdnght on July 12. Ths is Vega; its transit is at a low altitude—about sdep 28min for Dunedin. I must now finish, as I have come to the end of my space. I will send in the article on Argo next month. A good posit'on to take up in order to see

the stars mentioned in this article would be at the junction of the Roslyn and Maori Hil tramway systems., Notes.—l mutt draw attention to the spellirg of Fomalhiut. There is no "r' in Fomalhaut, and I am sure I spelt it correctly. Kindly see my last article. Every time the word occurs it is wrongly spelt. As to the diagrams, I will do as "Magister" suggests, and send them in in plenty of time. Tho first one will be the Mariner's Compass, handy size for a newspaper. "Magister" asked for one some months ago. The second one will be a star compass, also explanation of tho inverted bearings and the reason why. Following these will be star diagrams, containing only about 10 of the principal stars, month by month, and as they will not bo overcrowded with too much detail, such as the lesser stars of the constellations, etc., etc., I hope they will bo of interest to the boys and girls in the higher standards. Meantime, I would like every pupil in our schools to learn tho following rhyme. It refers to the successive groups of the Zodiacal constellations. Of course we know it is not quite true, but it is near enough the truth for a start: — The HAM, the BULL, the Heavenly TwrtfS, The Crab, be next tie Lion shines, The Virgin and the Scales. The Scorpion, Archer, and He-Goat, The MAX who bea-rs the water-pot, And PISH with glittering scales. [Mr Morris's astronomical notes are unusually interesting to one who has tune to read the skies by them. Boys and girls might learn the following names of the signs of the Zodiac, the names corresponding to those given by Mr Morris -. —Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces. Mr Morris might note that I have had a block made of the Mariner's Com-pt-ss. By the bye, boys and girls.might look nr the meaning of capricious, a word wo often apply to a girl or boy. In a slangy way, one says to uuother, "Don't act the goat." 16 there' any connection between "goat" ant "capricious" ? —Magister.]

■ NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. H. B.—Never mind the date and address —sends me the following:— Dear " Magkbar,"—As this is my first correspondence to you, I hope you will accept it and give mo a good answer. I got a sentence from my teacher a few days ago. I had to supply the missing pronouns, which I did, but the teacher only gave me credit for having one pronoun right. She said the others were all wrong, but would not explain why they were wrong. I afterwards went to the rector for an explanation, but ho would not look at it; he simply told mo to clear out of his office. The sentence was. Tho boy met —6;'ster —told —that—was going to visit tho people-they had met yesterday. I wrote it thus. The" boy met his sifeter, ho told her that ho was going to visit tho people whom they had' met yesterday. The teacher said it should have been:—The boy met his sister, who told him that she was going to visit the people whom they had met yesterday. Now I do not see wliy this one should be right and mine wrong, as we do not know which one spoke first when they mot. The teacher would not explain, so I would Dike to have your •ad vide on th& matter. I do not do this with the object of showing my cleverneee, but would liko an explanation on this sentence, as neither the teacher nor the rector would explain it to me. As I see in the Witness you must have a considerable heap of correspondencewaiting on space in the Witness, so I would iiko you. to send me a reply, for which I enclose a penny stamp.—Awaiting your reply, I remain yours sincerely, H. B. I aim giving a reply; but first let me say that I cannot help thinking that H. B. is a little bit bumptious, and' that under many rectors ho would think himself fortunate in being told simply "to clear out." Perhaps his teacher should have explained, but a good deal depends upon tho conditions surrounding the incident, and upon the way an explanation was asked for. The teacher's reading is correct; but H. B.'s answer would be given some marks by some teachers. In his version, however, he should havo a full stop after " sister," when the sentence would road thus: " The boy met his sister. Ho told," etc.; but a better reading of his interpretation would bo: " The boy met his sister, and he," etc. So while his pronouns can bo justified his punctuation cannot; and even then ''and' - and "ho" omitted would be better. I have published the letter -as 6ent, so that H. B. can see hi« errors in punctuation and in tho spelling of " Magister." Why haven't you used quotation marks, 11. B. ? >.hat arc quotations preceded by? A colon? A colon and a dash? A dash only? A comma? What rulo have you been taught? Do you use Goycn's " Composition " i 11. B. spoils "Magistor" "Magistar." Of course, that is a slip such as we all make. " Dictionary," a little chap in a Standard V in one of our city schools, asked last week wasn't " scimpy" spelt wrongly the week before. Certainly. It should havo been "skimpy," and I don't think tho misbake was mine, for I hare never had "e " for "k" in my mind. Another error I saw the other day. A correspondent wrote about artistically pinking an opponent with his rapier, but "pinking" appeared as "pricking." But almost any paper contains slight slips. As I have said before, the wonder is that such accurate work is dono when such pressuro and ■speed Have to be used to get a paper out in time.