Henry the Fourth
TANAKA Akio
In my mid-20s, I had worked at a high school in Tachikawa, Tokyo. One day, after teaching class, I waited the colleague at the physics study room, who was two year older than me and the best friend at the school. In the room he was absent and I waited sitting the chair and began to read the bringing book at the time if he be absent.
The book was the compact-sized complete works of Shakespeare. In those days, I had sometimes read Shakespeare for his writing style researching what is poetry or verse’s style. I had been strongly wanted the essence of verse. But never I had grasped the tail of it.
Some papers and books were already read. Some poets and researchers writings were also looked through. But I had perfectly never made sense of it. It was the very regrettable theme for me. What is the rhyme of verse? What difference occurred between verse and prose? So I desultorily had read Shakespeare.
When I was reading Shakespeare on the laboratory-work desk in the room, I suddenly understood perfectly the essence of verse at the beginning of the play, King Henry the Fourth’s saying. It was one of the biggest pivotal points of my life.
That time’s complete works was bought at old bookstore at Kanda, Tokyo. The jacket was dark red and very light though the complete works. Probably the papers are so old and enough dried up. The book was so dear.
On the colleague returning the room, now I cannot remember at all, including the conversation with him.
Tokyo
14 December 2012
Sekinan Research Field of anguage
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