It was not a comedy to me.
This past week I was at our local library thumbing through a book of poetry. Yes, poetry. I turned the page and there it hit me, Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante Alighieri wrote what some would call an epic fourteenth century poem. Just seeing it there and seeing the word epic, I thought, “Oh yeah?”
My freshman year in college, 1960-61, was one of the worst and most difficult years for me, for a lot of reasons. I had a three o’clock class with Dr. Miller for freshman English. I remember very little about his class other than how difficult and how miserable I felt in this class; again for various reasons. During that class we were assigned to write a paper, a rather lengthy paper on Dante’s Divine Comedy. I didn’t have a clue.
Not too long ago I was rambling through some old papers and found my college transcript. Evidently Dr. Miller was not impressed with my thoughts on Dante’s epic. I noted the grade I received was a D plus.
Turning a couple pages in this book I was reading today, I came upon something that I do remember Dr. Miller once talking about in his class when he referenced William Shakespeare.
So Dr. Miller, I guess your efforts on my behalf were not a total waste, but close.
Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow
Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast
Would I were sleep and peace so still at rest
It seems to me most strange that men should fear
Seeing that death will come when it will come
Cowards die many times before their deaths
Only the valiant taste of death but once
(William Shakespeare)
Keep on,
Larry Adamson