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The morning I received an email from a former student; I'm passing it one because (a) it's encouraging and (b) it helps to answer a question that we've been tossing around for a little bit more than a year now: What does Spenser have to offer our students? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 11:15:51 CST From: wils0406 <[log in to unmask]> Subject: The Faerie Queene To: [log in to unmask] Hi, David. This is Andy Wilson. I was in your Arthurian romance class and graduated last spring; I am now a first-year medical student at the University of MN. I just wanted to let you know that I recently read The Faerie Queene (I don't have the translation in front of me, but it retained much of the Olde English (if that's the right term) spelling and vocabulary. You had strongly recommended this poem to our class, and I decided to take your advice. This text was very inspiring to me. I feel a wonderful and challenging need to find a balance between a pragmatic focus on the "real" world and its restrictions, and the maintenance of an attitude of wonder, idealism, and creativity. In other words, I have found the incorporation of romanticism into my outlook to be essential, while still being able to act courageously and effectively. I realize that may sound pretentious, and perhaps irrelevant; the point is that The Faerie Queene was very effective as a healthy dose of fantasy and romanticism, and thoroughly perfused my consciousness with grandiose notions of love, valor, and evil, themes which are less tangible (and for good reasons) in everyday, secular life. No need to respond; I know you're busy. Just wanted to thank you for introducing me, along with your other students, to new worlds. Take care, Andy ----------------------------------------------------------------------- David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org [log in to unmask] Macalester College Virgil Tradition: discussion, bibliography, &c. -----------------------------------------------------------------------