Despite the fact that I’m technically a senior, I still have to fulfill a basic course for my English major. Luckily, this semester I found room for this introductory class. However, it’s thrown me for a loop enrolling in a course with younger English majors; it’s a little different then the higher division classes I’ve become accustomed to. To illustrate this, here is a dialogue from this week’s discussion.
Preface: We are discussing the poem “The Eolian Harp,” written by Samuel Coleridge, to his finance. We read the following passage out loud:
“How by the desultory breeze caressed,
Like some coy maid half yielding to her lover,
It pours such sweet upbraiding, as must needs
Tempt to repeat the wrong! And now, its strings
Boldlier swept, the long sequacious notes
Over delicious surges sink and rise”
Professor: Now what is this talking about?
Silence
Girl: Love
My Inner Thoughts: Hmmm…not quite. But perhaps you have a warped overly sensual definition of love.
Boy: Making love.
My Inner Thoughts: Hmmm…closer. But you are still missing the mark - I don’t think this euphemism can properly be used for such graphic, forceful word choice. Try again.
Silence
I’m becoming impatient now.
Me: SEX!
It’s about pure, unadulterated sex!
Preface: We are discussing the poem “The Eolian Harp,” written by Samuel Coleridge, to his finance. We read the following passage out loud:
“How by the desultory breeze caressed,
Like some coy maid half yielding to her lover,
It pours such sweet upbraiding, as must needs
Tempt to repeat the wrong! And now, its strings
Boldlier swept, the long sequacious notes
Over delicious surges sink and rise”
Professor: Now what is this talking about?
Silence
Girl: Love
My Inner Thoughts: Hmmm…not quite. But perhaps you have a warped overly sensual definition of love.
Boy: Making love.
My Inner Thoughts: Hmmm…closer. But you are still missing the mark - I don’t think this euphemism can properly be used for such graphic, forceful word choice. Try again.
Silence
I’m becoming impatient now.
Me: SEX!
It’s about pure, unadulterated sex!
These people better get used to talking about sex, because the English major is a secret coven of students who discuss race, sex, and violence on a regular basis. So my young English majors, practice saying sex at home so that when the opportunity arises, which will be soon, you can say without hesitation and conviction: sex.
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