Shakespeare's Last Word

[b0omur]

"Now my dreams are all o'erthrown
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint. Now 'tis true
I must be here confined by you
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got,
And pardoned the deceiver, swell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so, that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free."
-Prospero's Epilogue, the final lines of The Tempest, Shakespeare's last complete play.

And Professor Adelman left me with this:
"Shakespeare is astonishing. But the power to make Shakespeare live is in your hands and in your hearts."

I know I am in the right place, the right major, the right path for me when certain final lectures bring me to the verge of tears.

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