Kreating slammed his hand behind him, and the sound reverberated like a drum. The entire class jumped and turned. “Well,” Kreating whispered defiantly. “I say—drivel! One reads poetry because he is a member of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion! Medicine, law, banking—these are necessary to sustain life. But poetry, romance, love, beauty? These are what we stay alive for!”