Wednesday, January 24, 2018

101 Books, Number 55



55: The Complete Essays, 1580,* by Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

I read them all—2010.
A little bit each day.**
The book was thick, and this, I thought,
Would be the only way.

A teaching colleague*** (friend!) and I
This journey well commenced,
And soon we learned what this great man
Was for and was against.

He wrote about so many things—
Some major, some so small
That you might hardly think that they
Were worth essays at all.

And when we finished, I’d been schooled
About so very much—
Like writing, thinking, feeling … Life!
Oh, such an artist’s touch!

(That dude had really quite a brain
Well worth the work to read Montaigne!)

*I read the Penguin Classics edition, 1993—in English (sigh); pic shows my copy.
**10 pp/day
*** Nick Lewis, Western Reserve Academy

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