You know, it's really a pity that I didn't have time to give the effort to my 17th century literature class this semester that I should've. It dawned on me the other night as I was studying for finals that John Milton and I could be friends--I laughed to myself several times while I was reading. Oh, Milton, you brilliant man you. If you haven't read Milton's Areopagitica, or at least parts of it, you really should. Here are some gems:
"[It is] as good almost [to] kill a man as kill a good book; who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God."
"I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat."
And one of my favorite phrases:
"that the land had once enfranchised herself from this impertinent yoke of prelaty, under whose inquisitorious and tyrannical duncery no free and splendid wit can flourish."
"Inquisitorious and tyrannical duncery." Ahhh. In Milton's hands language is the perfectly balanced sword of wit, expertly wielded. I feel the need to drop that phrase in a conversation sometime soon.
Anyway, you may be familiar with the custom some students have of burning books at the end of the semester. Well, I know how they feel, and have even been tempted to do it myself once or twice (Let's just say that chemistry and I had issues). However, I will not be burning books now or ever. And no--it's not just because Milton would disapprove of such an action. See, for me, burning a book would imply that I wanted to be done--that I wanted to forget what I learned, or at least not think about it for a very long time. But I don't want my education to be like that--I don't want to take courses just to get them over with, to just check off another box on my to-do list for graduation. I actually want to learn something and make it meaningful, ya know? I want to take what I learn and make connections with ideas in the future. I want to see how something Milton wrote way back in the 17th century matters today and keep learning and thinking and making those connections over and over again. Wait a second... that's what I've been doing here, isn't it?
See Milton--I got your back. :)
Anyway, you may be familiar with the custom some students have of burning books at the end of the semester. Well, I know how they feel, and have even been tempted to do it myself once or twice (Let's just say that chemistry and I had issues). However, I will not be burning books now or ever. And no--it's not just because Milton would disapprove of such an action. See, for me, burning a book would imply that I wanted to be done--that I wanted to forget what I learned, or at least not think about it for a very long time. But I don't want my education to be like that--I don't want to take courses just to get them over with, to just check off another box on my to-do list for graduation. I actually want to learn something and make it meaningful, ya know? I want to take what I learn and make connections with ideas in the future. I want to see how something Milton wrote way back in the 17th century matters today and keep learning and thinking and making those connections over and over again. Wait a second... that's what I've been doing here, isn't it?
See Milton--I got your back. :)
0 comments:
Post a Comment