Fun reading

One of the great things about the Lit class I'm in right now is that it is forcing me to read (that is, something besides books and magazines about poker). The class is on British Literature, The Great Authors (could it sound any more pretentious). While I'm sure it's all considered very good, some I've enjoyed more than others. I think reading Canterbury Tales was roughly equivalent to digging my eyeball out with a fork. But I've really enjoyed reading Beowulf, The Tragic History of Dr. Faustus, Jane Eyre and some others.

I thought I would post one of the poems I really enjoyed here. The author is John Donne, who is definitely an interesting cat. He lived from 1571 - 1631. This one is called The Apparition and is taken from The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Seventh Edition, The Major Authors.

The Apparition

When by thy scorn, O murderess, I am dead,

And that thou thinkst thee free

From all solicitation from me,

Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,

And thee, feigned vestal(1), in worse arms shall see;

Then thy sick taper will begin to wink(2),

And he whose thou art then, being tired before,

Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think

Thou callst for more,

And in false sleep will from thee shrink,

And then, poor aspen wretch(3), neglected thou

Bathed in a cold quicksilver sweat (4)wilt lie

A verier ghost(5) than I;

What I will say, I will not tell thee now,

Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,

I had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,

Than by my threatenings rest still innocent.

1) Virgin

2) Flicker

3) Aspen leaves flutter in the slightest breeze

4) Sweating in terror; quicksilver was a stock prescription for venereal disease and sweating was part of the cure.

5) truer

Sounds like someone's got some issues with his special lady friend eh?