At about 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon, a handful of students sat on a couch on the second floor of Vanserg Hall, sipping champagne and staring numbly at the wall.

It was all over.

History and Literature, the Harvard concentration with the earliest due date for senior theses, held a reception in Vanserg yesterday to give its thesis-weary seniors a much-needed break.

Seniors drank glasses of champagne and munched on cookies. Those still capable of speech chatted with their compatriots about life-after-thesis.

The overwhelming feeling was one of relief.

"I feel good about it," said Jonathan P. Barnes '96, who wrote his thesis on the American author William Dean Howells. "I'm thrilled it's over, and I'm proud of what I'm handing in. I'm so glad I wrote my thesis."

Barnes was not alone in thesis-love yesterday. One senior said he almost couldn't bear to let it go.

"It was great. I'm not ready for it to be over," said George G. Shuffelton '96. "I sleep with my thesis under my pillow at night. It's hard to tell where I end and the thesis begins."

Many of the seniors sad theses took over their lives, replacing friends, food and sleep.

A few lucky seniors who had finished their theses early looked well-rested, well-fed and well-groomed, but many others had printed their pages within the last two hours and looked a bit the worse for the wear.

"This cookie I'm eating is the first piece of food I've seen in four days," said a stubble-faced Adrian D. Ashkenazy '96, who wrote his thesis on genealogy.

Beards and stubble were in style for male History and Literature concentrators yesterday afternoon. Of those present, smooth cheeks were the exception to the rule.

"There have been a lot of long hours," said Elliot C. Kirschner '96, explaining why he hadn't shaved in the last five days. However, he said he didn't have any major problems with his thesis on American labor policy in Japan.

But a few seniors said they did have major problems when it came down to the wire.

Brian S. Stern '96, who wrote on Mark Twain, said a Science Center computer destroyed a day's worth of his work on Wednesday.

Ashkenazy said he had to go to three different printers yesterday afternoon before he could find one that worked.