Tag Archives: death and dying

Immersed in Krook’s Rag and Bone Shop

By Robin Bates | Published: August 17, 2022

Going through my mother’s possessions is like a trip into Krook’s Rag and Bone shop in “Bleak House.”

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Methought I Saw My Dead Son

By Robin Bates | Published: August 4, 2022

After unexpectedly dreaming about a son who died 22 years ago, I thought of Milton’s poem about a similar dream, this one involving his wife.

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O’Connor and Swift on the Death of Others

By Robin Bates | Published: July 28, 2022

Friday While losing my mother at 96 is definitely not like Julian losing his mother in Flannery O’Connor’s “All That Rises Must Converge,” I can relate somewhat to his feelings of being adrift once she is gone. In his case, he is entirely dependent upon her, and embarrassed by her, and resentful of his inability […]

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Why Cry for a Soul Set Free?

By Robin Bates | Published: July 23, 2022

Christina Rossetti’s “Let Me Go” guides those mourning a loved one and consoles those who are dying as well.

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Good Night, Sweet Lady

By Robin Bates | Published: July 21, 2022

Tomorrow I will recite internally recite a passage from “Hamlet” when I pour my mother’s ashes into the ground.

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Learning about Death through Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: July 19, 2022

In “Sons and Lovers,” there are bedside scenes that very much resemble our last days with my mother

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Death Exposes Our Conflicted Humanity

By Robin Bates | Published: July 18, 2022

When we lose someone we love, we may have feelings that don’t appear laudable. Malraux’s “Man’s Fate” helps us understand them.

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Mixed Feelings about a Death

By Robin Bates | Published: July 17, 2022

“Metamorphosis” captures conflicted feelings about a death in the family.

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Twilight, Evening Bell, After That the Dark

By Robin Bates | Published: July 16, 2022

Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” captures my emotions following my mother’s passing.

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