3

Wednesday, December 7, 1960

THE COLLEGE ——

Page Thre&



W. S. Merwi 1

n Delineates

Symbolism of His Poetry

W. S. Merwin, reading his poet-
ry for ‘the Theodore Spenser Mem-|
orial Lecture November 21 in the
Ely Room of Wyndham, traced the
development of his poetry chron-
ologically and explained his pre-
occupation with certain themes.

Through tle poems which he
read, Mr. Merwin interspersed ex-
planatory and amusing comments
to clarify the meaning of his work
and to give his listeners a moment
to.recover from the emotional im-
pact of his reading,

Symbolic Respect

The first theme which Mr. Mer-
win discussed and _ illustrated
through his reading was the sea.

- “It is the only symbol which—I}«

really respect,” he said and at-
tributed this respeet—to -its- ability
to surprise continually,

Mr. Merwin disputed nis critics’
claims that he is impersonal in his
poetry and stated that for him
the sea is a very important sym-
bol. ‘While themes are represen-
tative of personal. history, he ad-
mitted that his early treatment of
his symbols, and consequently
themes, was less personal tech-
nically than it is in his more re-
cent work.

The sea is for Mr. Merwin not
only a personal symbol, but also
a tragic one. His titles imply this;



Stadent Instructor!

Of Russian Plans
A Teaching Future

“The Ship Wreck” and “The oves| WOUZECK,
of....the--Drowned—-Wateh—-Keels
Going Over” represent the cyni-
cism and fear with which he re-
gards the sea. For him this dom-
inant theme is a negative force.

i Love of Animals
In two of the poems he read,
“Burning Cat” and “The Sparrow
Sheltering Under a Column of the
British Museum,” Mr. Merwin ex-
pressed a fondness for ’ animals
‘and for weak beings generally.
(Mr. Merwin preceded the read-
ing of poems. about his grandpar-
ents with an explanation of fam-
ily history — another dominant
theme. He is a member of a
weird” family from Wales which
came to America just ten years
after the Mayflower. “The respon-
gible ones stayed in New England.
The rest went went to Pennsylva-
nia.” Of his grandfather, who
drank a lot, he wrote “Grandfather
in the Old Men’s Home.” Of his
grandmother, who “drank not at
all” but looked. out of the window
at the not very beautiful Alle-
gheny River and a mining town,
and responded to the “sinister-
ness of nature and the sinisterness
of man”—the suburbs—he wrote
“Grandmother. Watching Out of
Her- Window.”

Resurrection Theme

Mr. Merwin feels that the most
important theme in his recently
published collection The Drunk in
the Furnace is resurrection. He
attributes his interest in this
theme partly to the fact that his
father was a minister.



“Tt’s amazing how much a teach-
er learns about the way people’s
minds work,” said Karen Black,
senior, Merion Hall President,
Russian major and now part-time
Russian teacher. ‘You have. to
know what will catch a class’s in-
‘terest and how to communicate
what you already know to your
pupils.”

Karen’s pupils consist of some
fifteen adults who attend an eve-
ning session omce a week at West
Chester Adult Night School in
West Chester, Pennsylvania. They
have had no previous instruction
in the language, but, by the time
the ten week course ends, they
should “be able to read elementary
Russian and hold simple conver-
, sations.”

Asked whether she finds teach-
ing adults difficult, Karen answer-
ed, “It’s true that their minds don’t
' -adapt as quickly to new forms and

can’t follow the grammar as eas-
ily as a college student, who has
been working with languages for
several years, but, frankly, I’ve
been astounded at how much they
have learned and how eager they
are to work.”

She cited her pupils’ reasons for
taking the course as “as numerous
as there are students in the class.”
Her approach, she said, has stress-
ed grammar rather than conversa-
tion, since the group seems more
interested in reading Russian than
in speaking it.

Karen, who spent last summer
traveling in Russia: with a student

: group, remarked -that she? often
wlases souvenirs of her trip as start-
ing points for her lessons. ~

Describing how she got the
teaching post, Karen, whose home
town is West Chester, recalled
making am offhand remark to one
of the school board members to
the effect that she would love to
take an adult class in Russian.
The member and the board took
her seriously and persuaded her to
acc the job. She plans to re-
peat the course next semester.

ren, “hag really elinched teaching
for me. I’ve always thought of
teaching as a ‘not bad and poss-
ibly even enjoyable profession.’
Now I know that teaching and I

poem for which the collection is
named and again in “Noah’s Ra-
ven,” a poem which has. not yet
been published, this theme is par-
ticularly apparent. A preoccupa-
tion with death is clearly shown
in “Route with No Number”, an-
other recent and unpublished poem.
Indeed, this preoccupation ‘with
death became evident for the first
time in the poems which Mr. Mer-
win selected to read last. I
sea poems the fear of death was
obscured by a stronger and more
direct fear of the sea,

‘Mr. ‘Merwin read last a series
of as yet unpublished poems which
he felt were more personal than
his earlier work although they
are no more autobiographical.
These poems are about being alone.
One particularly moving poem is
called “Home for Thanksgiving”
in which a conflict between body
and intellect is exposed. ‘‘A Let-
ter from Gussie” and “Lemuel’s
Blessing’”—a wolf’s prayer—com-
plete this trinity of loneliness.

In_the|

In_his|_



Broderick J udges Play
Too Long and Empty,
Not Very Amusing
by J. H. Broderick

It was wise programming to ofy
fer The Dock Brief as the entr’-
acte for Woyzeck and The Mar-
riage by Force. In its mannered
sentimentality The Dock Brief
made Buchner’s trenchant pathos
startling and honest; its tame par-
adoxes lent Moliere’s characters
further uproar and vigor. The pro-
gramming for Goodhart on No-
vember 18-19 was wise, that is,
only if a production of The Dock
Brief was somehow ' mandatory.
For John Mortimer’s play is too
long, too empty; and not very
funny.

The Dock Brief does have a spe-
cious appeal, however; for it seems
to unite two modes of modern com-
edy. Its characters, dialogue and
mise en scéne give it a resemblance
to the “stripped stage” of Beckett
and to Ionesco’s “anti-plays.” Its
tidy plot seems to spring from
Shaw’s arch one-acters and the
glossy West End comedies of the
Terence Rattigan die. Unfortun-
ately, Mortimer’s play lacks .the
hopeless ‘vaudeville vulgarity of
‘Beckett and the hearty nihilism of
Ionesco. It also lacks Shaw’s in-
terest in ideas. What it proffer's
instead is an “interest in people”
and a concern for form. Im the
Shavian, Rattigan fashion, it pro-
pounds a paradox: A jailed bird-
lover accused of murder (he’s done
interested in acquitting himself in
order to assist his aging lawyer
(this is the lawyer’s only case and
it was assigned by the court, i.e.
it’s a dock brief.) While the par-
adox is fresh, the first scene is in-
teresting enough, especially when
Fowle (yes, the bird-lover) recalls
his late unlamented spouse. There-
after our interest wanes as the
barrister pre-enacts possible for-
_ Continued on Page 5, Col. oe



PUBLISHING POETESS

Susan Kenny, ’61, an English
major, has been notified that
her poem, “Window Scene,” will
be published in this year’s An-
nual Anthology of College Po-
etry. .The Anthology, put out
by the National Poetry Associ-
ation, is described as “a com-
pilation of the finest poetry
written by the College men and
women of America, represent-

try.”

on











‘Maurice Natanson, Professor of
Philosophy at the University of
North ‘Carolina, gave a Class of
1902 Lecture on “Existentialism
and Literature,” Thursday evening,
December 1, in the Common Room.

(Mr. Natanson pointed out that,
although the chief aim of philoso-
phy is to illumimate individual
life, its terms often become so com-
plex and technical | as to divorce it
from humanity. Existentialism
has returned to a study of individ-
ual involvement in the mundane
world, and has adopted the thesis
that the self and the world are
separate, aside from their exis-
tential unity.

The exploration of subjectivity
which is involved raises perplex-
ing questions: How is the world
given to me? How is it possible
that someone else’s world is con-
nected to mine? Thus, the line of

-Hinquiry—has*-already~-shifted-from|

a common-sense world of “us” to
one of “me.” Im the effort to.clear
up the apparent contradiction and
return. to the. mifhdane, common-
sense world, the most lucid render-



were ‘meant for ‘each other.’ ”

Natanson Clarifies Existential Concepts
In Literature, Phenomenological Art

erature, as a phenomenonological
art.

Philosophica] literature im gen-
eral is marked by its asking-qual-
ity, by its fusing of theme and
events to make the reader search
for meaning. Existential litera-
ture is further characterized by a
radical conception of self and
world in terms of a central con-
sciousness.

Mr. Natanson emphasized the
point that this use of literature is
in no sense a diluted form of the
inquiry, but rather makes possible
a direct presentation and unme-
diated vision of the problem.

In describing Tolstoy’s Death of
Ivan Illyich as existential. litera-
ture, Mr. Natanson_ stressed Ex-
istentialism’s view that the rela-
tionship between self and world is
problematic. Thus, we are shown
individuals through the terrifying
-eategories-of fear,.suffering, alone-
ness, and death, and it is only at
death that Ivan Illyich grasps the
meaning of his life.

In a short résumé of his argu-

Pity for pom Claaoee,

ing every section of—the—coun--H-



ment, Mr. Natanson suggested



ing of the problem ‘is given by lit-

Continued on Page 4, Col. 1

Torment and Suffering
Comprise Woyzeck
by Katrin Taeger |

Woyzeck seems so typical of the
twentieth century that it is hard
to believe that it could have been
written as: early as 1836, by a
young man of 22, Not edited and
published until long after his death
the play reflects the feelings of
young German intellectuals at a
time of many futile attempts at
revolution.

George Buchner, a young revolu-
tionary himself, once wrote to his
parents: “Hatred is just as per-
missible as love, and I hate espec-
ially ‘those who, in possession of a
ridiculous outward matter, called
education, or of a dead thing, call-
ed learning, sacrifice the great
group of their brothers to their
contemptuous egotism.” And he
set out against them, fighting, as
We said, with “arrogance against
arrogance, ridicule against ridi-
cule,”

Naturalism

These words point to the heart
and core of Woyzeck. This series
of sometimes rather loosely con-
nected episodes clearly divides into
two levels of style: Buchner’s.com-
passion for the lowest class finds
‘its expression in the naturalistic
picture he draws of people and
conditions in Woyzeck. The poet

when he deals with men of higher
social standing to whom he denies
all sense of humane traits, The
pathetic life of the masses is
brought out sharply by the gro-
tesque humor.

Not always did the deep sadness
and compassion come through this
layer of wit and caricature in the
performance given in Goodhart
Hall on November 18 and 19.

The problem of staging the short,
rather expressionistic episodes with
constantly changing places was
solved well with a simple back-
ground of bleak stockades.

Musical Score



David Hemingway wrote and
played the ‘music which: especially
in the inn and the final scenes very
appropriately underlined the mood.

The “Old Woman” made too
much the impression of being a
witch: Buchner himself has her
tell the story as a grandmother to
a group ‘of children, thereby re-
maining on much more realistic
ground.

All the scenes of caricature were
very pleasurable: the acting of
Leighton Scott as Captain, Bernie
Lederberg im a double role as Jew
and Barker, and particularly of
Linn Allen as Doctor deserves high
praise. Both Betty Ferber and
Andy Miller had the very difficult
task of playing tragic characters
next to these caricatures. Both
handled their roles very capably
indeed, even though not all. sides
of the characters came out clear-
ly. Betty Ferber persuasively por-
trayed the girl Marie who is sway-
ed by conflicting emotions. Andy
Miller’s acting became more and
more convincing as the play pro-
gressed, growing into the rather
primitive and passive “hero” Woy-
zeck who falls prey to the selfish-
ness and lack .of understanding of
his superiors as well as to the in-
comprehensible world around him
which tortures him through demo-
niac forces.

Usually this play is the only one
of an evening.
Faculty Reviewers Evaluate (oleae Theater Trio:
Wouzeck, The Dock Brief, and Le Mariage Force -



Koch Judges Moliere’s
Mariage force Limited
But Spirited Satire

by Philip Koch

The Mariage forcé may have
come as a surprise to those not ac-

ére’s theatre. Tartuffe and Le Mis-
anthrope are summits to which
few of this playwright’s works as-
pire; the majority are much less
ambitious and propose only to
amuse the spectator with the slight-
est intellectual tension possible.
If for nothing else, then, the per-

Mawr College Theatre and Haver-
ford Drama Club is commendable
as a corrective to a distorted vision
of Moliére.,

The Mariage forcé as we possess
it is a second version of a lost
three-act —“comédie-ballet”,
music by Lulli, given first at.Court
in 1664. When Moliére offered it
to the Parisians in public perform-
ance, its reception was so luke-
warm that he quickly withdrew
the play and, after keeping it in
reserve for four years, published
it as a one-act farce’ without bal-
lets in 1668. In this form, Moliére
presented it occasionally as the
“divertissement”, used to conclude
pleasantly what would otherwise
have been a difficult evening, ~In
the Goodhart performance, the di-
rectors wisely chose to keep this
play in its traditional Position.

‘| the summary plot of the play
which is simply a series of satir-
ical portraits and of situations in
the manner of the “commedia delle’
arte”. The unity of plot exists in
the person of Sganarelle-who shut-
tles from scene to scene bearing

tainties on marriage to Doriméne.
This loose structure is understand-
able and perhaps desirable in a
“comédie-ballet”, the forerunner of

dance is as important to the spec-
tacle as the story. However, such
a construction falls a bit flat in a
farce where more cohesion and
complexity are necessary.

There is another weakness in
the Mariage for the modern audi-
ence. ‘Two lengthy scenes of sa-
tire, that of Pancrace and Marphu-
rius, are lost in good part for the
twentieth century spectator. Ped-
antry is certainly with us still but
not in the guise of scholasticism
or pyrrhonism; nor are allusions
to Pascal’s quarrels on the exist-
ence of a vacuum likely to provoke
more than a smile now. In short,
if Moliére’s theme was so attract-
ive to our theater groups, a more
judicious choice of farce could
have been made: le Cocu imagin-
aire, for example.

Given the inherent limitations,
the present performance was in-
deed good. Sganarelle is of course
the essential] réle and Danny Tur-
ner carried it off well. Since, like
all the other characters of the
play, Sganarelle has no personal
traits, he must be stylized. This

consistent and humorous ‘in his
portrayal. One might have wished
that his sixty-three years (my edi-
tion says fifty-three) had come
through a little more. Gail Levy—
Doriméne was charming as the
coquettish fiancée, Coquetry is an
eternal quality perhaps but its
styles change. I doubt that an un-
married girl of the 17th century
would pinch cheeks, even her be-
trothed’s. Wouldn’t she also carry
a fan rather than a parasol? Minor

quainted with the range of Moli--

formance of this play by the Bryn ~

with -

with him his well-founded uncer- |

Turner managed to do and he was ©

flaws could not, however, mar the:



+-would-have-made-the-performance} playful spirit of this performance.

even more impressive. Peter Gar-
ret deserves praise for tackling
such a difficult task and for direct-
ing the presentation of Woyzeck
which certainly was worth a ie:

In tone and genera] bearing, Mar-
phurius, the skeptic philosopher

(Roger Groyes), was excellent but

I did find the way he waggled his
pointer occasionally too aggressive



er audience.

Continued on Page 4, Col, 3; —

the musical revue, in which the _—|