Romeo and Juliet

  
Abbi said, "You could write a blog post about a book you've read recently!"  Trouble is, I am taking 2 literature classes this semester, so most of my reading is being done against my will.  So, I started browsing my bookshelf to remind myself about books that have meant something to me, ones that have changed my life.  The book, it turns out, was in the car; I rarely go anywhere without it (you never know when you'll be stuck in a waiting room for hours), and it bears the scars of its travels.  The cover is bent, the spine is cracked right in half and dangerously close to coming completely un-attached, most pages are either dog-eared or contain underlining, and someone spilled a rather large cup of coffee on it. It is my absolute favorite book.
Everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers who take their lives.  It's a terribly tragic story, full of civil war and accidental deaths.  Thankfully, my life has lacked all of the tragedy and most of the drama of this play, but I have found so many poignant and applicable ideas in its pages.  Every time I must leave my boyfriend (we do long distance), I recall Romeo's simple "Can I go forward when my heart is here?"  When I find myself rushing through a task, I remember Friar Laurence's "Wisely and slow.  They stumble that run fast".  And how else could you explain some behavior other than, "Young men's love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes"?        
Shakespeare (as everyone has been told) truly does have a masterful way with words, whether he is comparing kissing to praying or describing Romeo's reaction to his banishment: "with his own tears made drunk".  I have never failed to find myself inspired after even a single page in this play, and relish the way the words flow together in such a beautiful way.  On top of all of that, Shakespeare even writes in iambic pentameter: 10 syllables per line.  Now that is serious skill.