Yet, Nymph, if once alone,
The ball hath featly fled—
Not smitten from the bone—
That drive doth still atone;
And one long shot laid dead
Our grief to the winds hath blown!
So, still beside the tee,
We meet in storm or calm,
Lady, and worship thee;
While the loud lark sings free,
Piping his matin psalm
Above the grey sad sea!
FRESHMAN’S TERM
Return again, thou Freshman’s year,
When bloom was on the rye,
When breakfast came with bottled beer,
When Pleasure walked the High;
When Torpid Bumps were more by far
To every opening mind
Than Trade, or Shares, or Peace, or War,
To senior humankind;
When ribbons of outrageous hues
Were worn with honest pride,
When much was talked of boats and crews,
When Proctors were defied:
When Tick was in its early bloom,
When Schools were far away,
As vaguely distant as the tomb,
Nor more regarded—they!
When arm was freely linked with arm
Beneath the College limes,
When Sunday grinds possessed a charm
Denied to College Rhymes:
When ices were in much request
Beside the April fire,
When men were very strangely dressed
By Standen or by Prior.
Return, ye Freshman’s Terms! They do
Return, and much the same,
To boys, who, just like me and you,
Play the absurd old game!
A TOAST
Kate Kennedy is the Patron Saint of St. Leonard’s and St. Salvator. Her history is quite unknown.
The learned are all ‘in a swither,’
(They don’t very often agree,)
They know not her ‘whence’ nor her ‘whither,’
The Maiden we drink to together,
The College’s Kate Kennedie!
Did she shine in days early or later?
Did she ever achieve a degree?
Was she pretty or plain? Did she mate, or
Live lonely? And who was the pater
Of mystical Kate Kennedie?
The learned may scorn her and scout her,
But true to her colours are we,
The learned may mock her and flout her,
But surely we’ll rally about her,
In the College that stands by the Sea!
So here’s to her memory! here to
The mystical Maiden drink we,
We pledge her, and we’ll persevere too,
Though the reason is not very clear to
The critical mind, nor to me.
Here’s to Kate! she’s our own, and she’s dear to
The College that stands by the Sea.