I don't know how proficient your Middle English is, but I've just undergone a semester of reading nothing but (except for a brief foray into Geoffrey of Monmouth's HRB, of course, which was translated, and all the Spanish I read in my other three classes). I think my favorite piece of literature was... Duh. The one with Gawain. I've always loved Gawain. Even when he went through his beheading stage... But this semester I was also introduced to Havelok the Dane, who is a pretty awesome guy even if he is a bit lacking in personality--but who can blame him? I mean, if you had had to go through what he went through, you might not have much personality, either. And then there is Troilus. Sigh. Oh, Troilus. You're almost the perfect man, but not quite. If only he had told creepy Pandarus to take a hike. But, Troy was doomed anyway, so, there wasn't much that could have been done about it. Gawain still takes the cake in my book, but I don't know who would win if he and Diomedes got into it... Thoughts?
Anyway, back to the point. I know you'll all think I'm really smart and stuff and just showing off my expensive education, but that's only half of what I'm doing. The other half is this: that in a very random string of links, I came upon this poem. It was what I needed to hear at the time and even a day later and not at my wits' end, it's pretty darn amazing. If you don't want to wade through the weirdly spelled words, I won't blame you, even though the gloss is pretty thorough. I will blame you, though, if you don't re-google the title and find a better translation to suit your non English-majory taste.
Be careful. This poem might just blow your mind clean out of your skull:
In a Valley of This Restless Mind
Stay tuned for "What you get when you make friends with a Spanish major..."
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