remembering
Sep. 13th, 2006 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmansomething in another LJer's journal made me think of my old advisor, a man named Phil West, who died far too early back in 1997.
Father Phil
In memoriam Philip J. West
Phil, you went too soon to your maker, God
The Father you served monastically
Five years, then doubted fifty-five. How odd
Your course from cassock to Army khaki,
With sergeant’s stripes, to a Ph.D.’s hood,
A specialty in Anglo-Saxon: Bede,
Beowulf, Caedmon, "The Dream of the Rood";
Quaffing each class as if a cup of mead,
The students your flock, the text Holy Grail,
You wore the collar in kind, though unfrocked;
A skeptical saint, patient without fail,
Yet quick to call a critic’s fad "a crock,"
You were the rock on which we built our cause:
To gladly teach and learn far from applause.
by George Held
Published in Iodine
True, too true. I still remember you well, Phil: your stories and your patience, your sense of humor and your irritation when we didn't live up to your high expectations.... and your joy when we exceeded them.
I like to think that he'd be amused by my career and pleased that I'm doing something I love, just as he did... even if it wasn't the academic one he was plotting for me.
Father Phil
In memoriam Philip J. West
Phil, you went too soon to your maker, God
The Father you served monastically
Five years, then doubted fifty-five. How odd
Your course from cassock to Army khaki,
With sergeant’s stripes, to a Ph.D.’s hood,
A specialty in Anglo-Saxon: Bede,
Beowulf, Caedmon, "The Dream of the Rood";
Quaffing each class as if a cup of mead,
The students your flock, the text Holy Grail,
You wore the collar in kind, though unfrocked;
A skeptical saint, patient without fail,
Yet quick to call a critic’s fad "a crock,"
You were the rock on which we built our cause:
To gladly teach and learn far from applause.
by George Held
Published in Iodine
True, too true. I still remember you well, Phil: your stories and your patience, your sense of humor and your irritation when we didn't live up to your high expectations.... and your joy when we exceeded them.
I like to think that he'd be amused by my career and pleased that I'm doing something I love, just as he did... even if it wasn't the academic one he was plotting for me.
