A scholar of poetry of the soul confronts death. The soul allows poets to put death at a distance ("kill" it, according to Donne). Now, a fatal illness challenges and personalizes her beliefs. The teacher becomes the subject, literally, in a teaching hospital. As she enters the world of the hospital she sees the irony and humor in her situation. Physicians are portrayed as the opposite of poets, concerned only with the body. Luckily, there's a compassionate nurse on hand. Intellectually, the patient chooses "death with dignity." Emotionally, she needs the comforting of others. After careful analysis, how does the sophisticated viewer react? SPOILER: You cry.
