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THE MAROON TIGER
Florida. Other short engagements promise visits to
Augusta and Birmingham. Of course the activity of this
dual organization is not all on the road. We are looking
forward to the campus annual concert when the boys are
at their best. The activity of the glee club lias already
begun with appearances at Spelman College Vespers and
on the night of the International Debate. Hr. Harreld
promises to take the boys over the top this year if they
will only stick by him.
The frequent appearances of our two quartets is being
enjoyed by a host of followers. Radio appearances over
station WSB, 4:45 p. m. each Sunday, deserve a lot of
commendation from those who have been fortunate
enough to tune in. Let’s drop a line to our friends at
home so that they may enjoy the programs with us each
week.
For a while we were puzzled as to whether the Florida
fellows were going to “run” the first quartet. That fair
state boasts Martin Graham, second tenor; David Mells,
baritone; and Anthony Stevens, bass. It is up to Claude
Robinson to claim honors for his Georgia state mates.
The second quartet includes Clements, Reynolds, Long,
and Raiford. We are anxious to see who’ll remain first
quartet or second.
Individual honors for appearances on and off the cam
pus go to Charles Lawrence, trumpeter; David Mells.
pianist: Martin Graham, tenor; Johnson Hubert, pianist,
and Darwin Creque, violinist. The two last named brokfc
the ice at Spelman when they appeared in Howe Hall
on the annual Studio Recital.
It is not all tooting of horns, nor playing of “fiddles”,
nor singing of songs in the glee club and orchestra. Ask
the fellows who were in the music studio on the night
of December 1, when the orchestra and glee club of Spel
man entertained for us. We are not sure that it is by
virtue of the musical implications that that organization
boasts of such an attractive and interesting lot. but we
do feel quite sure that they have learned the grace of
relaxation which music has a tendency to create.
Prepare to listen to all the good Christmas music that
you can and see if it will make your season a more pleas
ant one.
We believe that no program in our community excels
in beauty and simplicity the Christmas Carol Concert
by the students of Spelman and Morehouse Colleges.
There is a spiritual force the concert compels, a force
which administrations always believe they shall some
day bring into chapel services. It is a something which
isolates you in a hall of people. This year the concert
was held on Thursday evening. December 20. The pro
gram included a line which read: “The audience is
requested to refrain from applause.” This was thought
ful, but no one who came into the holly-filled, candle-
lighted Sisters Chapel wanted to applaud. No one wanted
to speak or be spoken to. They wanted to hear the
young voices sing with all their might some of the
sweetest music ever sung. They wanted to be quiet and
alone. The music came from the Austrians, the French,
the Italians, the Czechs, the Sioux Indians, the Ger
mans, the English, and the American mountaineers and
Negroes. The singers and the directors put their hearts
into their music and the music into our hearts. Christ
mas has been made fuller by this.
( Jrom dsrfie Jdadies!
OPENED LETTER
Dear:
You have asked if I were unhappy—again you have
flattered yourself. Even you, as much as I care for you,
cannot make me unhappy. No. I am not saying that 1
cannot be made unhappy. I can be. Horribly so; be
cause I am so much emotion and intellect.
But, back to your question. Yes. I am almost un
happy. You see, I have been struggling between being
free—doing what I want to when I want to—and being
bappy. You can't be both. To secure one you must sac
rifice the other. There is so little happiness here for us,
tucked in between a birth and a forgetting, that the an
guish of a sacrifice is not worth the end.
Sometimes (many times!) I think that I shall with
draw from people altogether and live my life as I want.
It’s mine, isn’t it? Then 1 discover that I have no life;
that is, it is not mine to live as I might want. I may do
anything so long as I do not bring hurt and too much
disappointment to those people who love me.
I shall be happy when my experiences have taught me
that the shackles that bind one to people are bonds of
love.
Somehow I can’t believe the happy people in the world
are really free. Perhaps it is because I am young that I
wish for freedom and because I have set up a defense
mechanism against life, since to love is to suffer. People
who are older and wiser know better. When I too am
old, and glamour does not seem to lie just around every
corner, I will know that nothing is of value unless it can
be shared. That means you, too, dear. I will know that
the eternal cry of the human heart is to belong to some
one else. To seek someone else is our escape from lone
liness, our support of weakness, and a solace to our pride.
Well, if happiness is all this, why should I long for free
dom? Surely to be happy is better than to be free. And
to like many, to love a few. and to be needed and wanted
by those we love is certainly the nearest we can come
to joy on earth.
My head is weary and heavy with knowledge.
Helen.
POEM
This is the emptiness
of quiet southern streets
at nightfall,
Where hushed is the crying
of perilous souls
and incorrigible pain:
I have emptied all the
corners of my heart
And cleared away the
rubbish of my dreams.
—Frances Bethea.