Edgar Allan Poe said, “Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem.” The Department of English had an English poetry recitation contest on Dec. 23. It attracted more than 40 students, and 28 were non-English majors. All competitors tried all their best and lively recited their poems with rich emotions. Finally English senior Yu-hui Wang won the 1st prize of NT$2,000 with an emotionally charged dramatic style. The 2nd, prize of NT$1,500, the 3rd of NT$1,000 and the 4th of NT$800 went to English freshman Si-hui Gu, Chinese junior Yu-sheng Chang and English sophomore Chiao-lan Yin respectively. There were 3 fifth prizes of NT$500 each and they went to English seniors Yu-rong Chao and Shang-huan Yu and International Trade freshman Yi-ting Li. Every winner was also awarded a certificate.

Yu-hui Wang’s poem was “O Death O Death, Rock Me Asleep” supposedly by Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second queen. The poem was about her feelings just before her execution after being wrongfully charged. Yu-hui Wang expressed that because of the historical background of the poem and being a female herself, she felt great compassion for the queen and deeply moved by the tragic feelings of the poem. She spent two weeks practicing pronunciation and intonation. Revealing her secret of practice, she pointed out that watching related historical movies helped her understand the poem better and immerge herself into its historical situation. Deeply touched by the poem, she almost shed tears in her recitation. One of the judges, English Assistant Professor, Albert Chen explained that she deeply merged herself into the rule of the poetic speaker with emotions, so her recitation was so unique that she won the first prize. ( ~Dean X. Wang )