Features
Paradise Found at the Milton Marathon
By Sophia Gaulkin ’17
April 7, 2016
Tags features
On Sunday afternoon, Professor Margie Thickstun and her literature class on Milton hosted the seventh annual marathon reading of John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, in the lobby of Burke Library. The poem is divided into 12 books, recounting the Biblical story of the fall of humankind due to Satan’s successful temptation of Adam and Eve, all in order to “justify the ways of God to men.”
Starting at noon, the marathon lasted until almost 10 p.m. Throughout the day, participants came and went, snacked on refreshments, read and listened. And, just like every year, Thickstun stayed for the whole reading. While that might sound astonishingly difficult, Thickstun commented, “I am continually surprised by how interesting I find the reading and how I don’t get tired!”
Even though she says that she is the only person required to be there the entire time, other students in the class have decided to stay from start to finish as well. Sometimes, students outside of the class will do the same. And, for some, participating is part of their bucket list before graduation. KT Glusac ’17 is enthusiastic about checking it off her list: “This is the third year in a row I’ve heard nothing but great things. You’ll definitely see me there before I graduate!”
Marathons of Paradise Lost are not uncommon—they can be found at Harvard, Colgate, Princeton, Duke and many other institutions of higher education across the country. Thickstun’s decision to bring the tradition to Hamilton was inspired by two people: John Ulreich, a Hamilton alumnus and now retired professor at the University of Arizona, which had its first marathon in 1997, as well as her friend Rich DuRocher, who held marathon readings at St. Olaf College.
Those unfamiliar with this Hamilton tradition—referred to as “one of the understated intellectual traditions that we have here at Hamilton” by Peter Jorgensen ’16—may be wondering why the entirety of this epic poem is read in a single day. For Thickstun, “The benefit of reading aloud is that I am forced to slow down and pay attention to parts that I don’t talk about in class and that I would tend to skim if I were reading silently.” As for students in the course, she hopes that there is value in revisiting earlier parts of the poem once they have read and discussed all of Paradise Lost. “Hearing people read aloud, especially good performers, helps make more sense of the language.” The language is indeed difficult—Paradise Lost is written in 17th-century blank verse.
Taking the time to read aloud with others offers a refreshing break from how we tend to read: silently, frequently distracted by our phones and generally with the goal of completing an assignment. The Milton Marathon reminds us of the merits of reading, particularly poetry, out loud and in a group.
For newcomers to Paradise Lost who may want to participate in the marathon next year, Thickstun recommends attending Books 4 and 8 because of the conversations, as well as Book 7, “because of the beautiful description of God creating the earth.” It may be better to drop by in the middle to get a better sense of why Paradise Lost is so renowned. Thickstun warns, “There are certainly parts—that jaw-breaking catalogue of warriors in Book 1—that would be very off-putting out of (and even in?) context!”
This year, a total of 36 participants attended the event, jotting their names down in a book which keeps record, perhaps for posterity. The biggest turnout in the marathon’s seven-year history was over 50 people in 2013. Thickstun explained that the attendance depends on the size of the class. This year’s course only attracted 12 students (given that the meeting time is at 9 a.m.), rather than the usual class size of 25 students. Alumni will often come to read, as well as members of the community off the Hill. Alumni of the course, too, often return. Jorgensen ’16, who attended the marathon this year and took the course two years ago, remarked, “It’s great to see both people in and outside of Margie’s Milton class learning about and enjoying Paradise Lost. According to him, “The marathon is Hamilton’s intellectual community at its finest.”
Thickstun says that this year’s highlight was Professor of Physics Brian Collett’s reading of Satan in Book 9. “He is usually involved in the highlights,” added Thickstun, “Last year, he read Adam and his wife Kathy read Eve during the Separation Colloquy, and a student later remarked that, if someone had walked by, that person would not have thought that anyone was reading poetry, but that a couple was having a quarrel while sitting on that couch.”
Another memorable part of the event’s history took place during the very first marathon. “For Book 3, President Stewart read God, her husband was the Son and Professor of Literature and Creative Writing Onno Oerlemans, who was department chair at that time, read Satan.”
From start to finish, members of both the Hamilton community and the outside community, independent of the College, shared the goal of reading well over 10,000 lines of verse and succeeded—a collective experience worth being a part of, whether it be for 10 minutes or 10 hours.