ITH boets of the stature of
at ae Wallace, the passing
bili” fives new lustre and
i ce «6to §«6their written
fienee oY pound at the con-
fi, «Of Man like a mighty
hig ammer because they

,~ that conscience in all
i "2 hopes to have and

a ‘therefore, good to know
thing ty Frontiers is under-
itg € publication of a
Volume of Joe Wallace's
Under the title Hi Sis-
thing, ;prother, a worthy ad-
. ‘ wo earlier vol-
My Brothers, Ended and All

liven (Joe) Wallace is a poet
He gp of the common people.
heating their language in
Sores, verse, All his poems
tongs th the struggles and
teteats © Joys and fears, the
None. ao. Victories of the
the he indestructible will
} ang pep ble for the dignity
tity, he of mankind. Huma-
‘ectig any moods find true
|| Bteag 1 2 Mm his works — its
HF 8g ie its great sorrows,
} Ther “duenchable hopes.
H hing, Ss 2Othing of abstract
tom re tie or ethereal flight
Fe Walt ity in the poems of
Hgethen &ce. No words strung
Movida bee in the clouds to
i dling Tty—for the words
*eches ee Wallace often
fly b for the Stars,” but
Kote frause the common
rd pe whom he draws
phrgs poo also reach ever
| weoitatig Tom the ghetto of
: 1 to the sun-bathed

ks
0
Take , tuman grandeur,
taeace’s © poetic story of
hi Hi gr Poem, “Hi Sis-
t Story aa It is the sim-
nh bit Quy; 782 and a maid,
tions weious about his in-
YOu a er unspoken
ity knoy, ”h been introduced
hot 4. © desperately try-
The, ,° lose her Ean
Men a ;
1) Nini hought Strikes him,

"aig
Nay
f Us THAN ANeKALBLeHeKeWeW <

We st
Nena JeWelers

Dip. Jewelers

"

0 0 he

i,
i] Ng, NH “
Ny ty Lil

St
MOEN ELAUELENONES

reet

SUES

log Wallace mirrors
dreams of people

rm.

that finest of all testimonials
of human worth and purpose
— a union card. He digs his
card out and shows it to the
lass. <A bright smile chases
away her fears as she in turn
fishes in her handbag and

“brings out her union card.

Then it’s “Hi Sister, Hi Broth-
er” until the time when “She
now calls me Daddy and I call
her Mother.”

Into four stanzas Joe Wal-
lace has condensed the horror
and the immortal triumph of
the Warsaw Ghetto, that epic
of the Second World War
which shall live for all time.
Yet even today as socialism
rises triumphant upon the
ashes of the Warsaw Ghetto,
humanity has need of a poet’s
warning to “Remember, re-
member, remember,” lest the
price of forgetfulness be other
ghettos.

And, as if in reply o his
“Warsaw,” Joe Wallace’s
“Wedding Vow” points the
way:

“To guard her as the apple of

my eye

That is the pledge I gave in

days gone by

Now; mother, sister, sweet-

heart, comrade, friend,

I will not let the hell-bomb

be her end.

All else is no account. Till

wars shall cease

To save her life Pll spend

my life for peace.”

8 gr: © aka ©

The “Saga of Doctor Beth-
une” is perhaps the finest
work in this new volume of
Wallace’s poems. It is the story
of a great Canadian whose
love and service to humanity
is written deep on the scroll of
contemporary history.

In the hearts of the heroic
people of Spain, still struggl-
ing against the Franco regime
of hunger and terror, the name
of Dr. Norman Bethune is re-
membéred with reverence,
with hope, and with ever re-
newed courage. And in the
great Republic of People’s
China where Dr. Bethune
worked and died for the vic-
tory of the Chinese people, he
was their Pai Chu-Un,

“Calling his name they fell

upon the foe...

What greater honor can our

ceuntry know?”

In this poem, Joe Wallace
marks the course taken by a
great Canadian from stormy
and battle-torn “St. Lawrence
Street towards the river. . .”
following its tortuous wind-
ings to the ends of the earth
to ease the sufferings and heal
the wounds of his fellow men,
finally to die in the Yenan
Hills and become for us in
Canada, “Our glory and our
morning star...”

In this new volume of Joe
Wallace’s poems there are
many gems of exquisite beau-
ty. “Sing the Song” is a roll-
icking poem of the struggles,

* Radion tests have established the age of these prehistoric carvings found in the Gulf

Islands at 2,500 years. This is a

pproximat ely.a century older than objects found in the

Locarno Midden and 500 years older than the oldest artifacts taken from the Marpole Midden
by UBC’s Dr. Charles E. Borden last year. The carvings were found on North and South Pender

Islands this summer during an archeolo

museum anthropologist.

the sacrifices and the deter-
mination of working people to
win bread and roses, “ .-..

symphony rolling from pole
to utter pole, from sea to final
sea. Sing of. the tears and tri-
umph, the glory of Man set
free.”

How many of us have gone
back to the villages and scenes
of our boyhood days, in an ef-
fort to recapture the beauty
and contentment of things
long past, only to find, as in
Oliver -Goldsmith’s Deserted
Village and Wallace’s “I Wasn’t
There,” that time had played
us a shabby trick. Amid old
surroundings, looking for the
boy he was, our poet laureate:
“| .. called his name but he

gave no sign oe
Save a far off troubled
stare. —

gical survey conducted by Wilson Duff, provincial

I went back to find myself, the path he chose:

And found that I wasn’t
there.”
Re 8 Te ae

A few months ago, when
Joe Wallace lay in a Toronto
hospital and the sands seemed
to be running out, I had a
treasured letter from him, with
a little poem included. I just
couldn’t accept the idea of Joe
not being around, mainly be-
cause I had come to the firm
conclusion when Joe’s first
volume, Night is Ended was
published, that Joe would be
around when others of us are
scarcely a memory. Those who
write the living songs of the
people are endowed with the
immortality of the people!

Like Robbie Burns, our own
poet laureate“went up to Edin-
burgh,” but what he has seen
there does not compare with

International peace prize
now to bear Lenin's name

HE Soviet International

Peace Prizes, which since
their institution in 1949, have
borne the name of Stalin, are
now to bear the name of
Lenin, and the Lenin National
Prizes, which ceased in 1935,
are to be revived, it is an-
nounced from Moscow.

“All recipients of- the Inter-

national Peace Prizes for the |

period 1950-55 will from now
on bear the title of Inter-
national Lenin Prizewinner,”
Moscow Radio’ said.

Fifty national prizes, each
worth 75,000 roubles (approx-
imately $25,000) have been

established for achievements
in the sciences and arts, and
will be awarded every year
on Lenin’s birthday (April 22).

There will be ten Inter-
national Lenin Peace Prizes
each year and the winners
will recéive a money prize of
100,000 roubles.

' The 50 Lenin ' National
Prizes are as follows: 12 prizes
for scientific work; 30 prizes
for constructions or inven-
tions introduced into the
economy; and eight prizes for
highly artistic works in liter-
ature, art, the theatre or
cinema,

2 See To join ... and be their
voice

The lowly and despised.

We all go up to Babylon

Whatever be our role,

Turn back in time with
Robbie Burns

Before you lose your soul.”

Joe Wallace has put his soul
in his poems and the picture
is one of great strength, digni-
ty and charm and victory for
the struggle, in Hi Sister, Hi
Brother.

What finer goal could man-
kind strive for than that utter-
ed so long ago, heralding the
birth of a lowly carpenter, and
re-echoed again by this poet
of the people in golden words:

“Ripple to river, river to sea,
On to the ocean, humanity.
._.A thousand faiths with a
common dream
A thousand tongues with a
common theme
A thousand thoughts with a
single plan;
Peace on earth and goodwill
to man.”

New Frontiers merits the
warmest congratulations for
helping new thousands of Ca-
nadians find expression of
their dreams and their destiny
in the stirring poems of Joe
Wallace. This new volume, as
did those preceding it, will
bring many happy hours to
countless people, who will
read and re-read, and in their
reading find new paths and
new inspiration to scale the

heights of human _ brother-
hood.

TOM McEWEN

SEPTEMBER 21, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 13