All Nighter Comments

So I read this poem in Feb and my comments stayed with the academic setting with my memory of all-nighters becoming routine to finish assignments and preparations on time. But this season both of us may be exploring surrealism and that adds another dimension to the poem - the significance of the setting in time - namely, N-I-G-H-T, that mysterious realm which is both an actual time/place and a universal metaphor of the psyche. So now I see the student surrendering to the night. Here's Robert Desnos's summons: Is the night kind? /Does the night tear you? /Do you harvest the night? /Is the night echoless for you? How much more interesting than a geology or history assignment this all nighter will be in the surrealist vein! does the night tear you? /

This poem rings true, Daniel. I remember those all nighters when I was cramming for a test or finishing a paper. Sometimes I'd fall asleep at my desk, and dream I had finished EVERYTHING and was so happy, then I'd wake up and see an incomplete paper or an unread textbook! Of course, there's a positive aspect to such experiences: when you're on the edge, no time to spare, you force your imagination to go into hyperdrive, and your poem captures some of that nervous, creative energy. It's a good homage to our resilience as students.