The widowed professor’s new purpose

His lectures that he likes best
Usually concern Camus.
Each year, he does La Peste,
Which wasn’t always true.

“A parable to be read
By a world itself absurd:
First rats, then people, dead . . .
The cause is never cured . . .

“Despair comes in, even seems
To push the envelope
Hard. But the book’s deep themes
Are human love and hope