Tag Archives: John Dryden

Inheriting My Mother’s Poetry Column

My mother having been incapacitated by a series of strokes, I will be taking over her poetry column in the local newspaper.

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Dryden on Charismatic Demagogues

In Dryden’s Absalom, we see a politician who has Donald Trump’s ability to sway a crowd.

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Dryden on Trump’s Coup Attempt

Dryden’s “Absalom and Architophel” can be applies to the GOP’s current anti-democratic principles.

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Biden as Dryden’s Ideal Leader

Biden’s suspense wearing thin on vaccine resistance reminds me of King David in Dryden’s “Absalom and Architophel.”

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Does Lightweight Lit Do Damage?

I look at how thinkers over the centuries have viewed so-called popular or lightweight literature.

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Obama: From Patience to Fury

Dryden’s “beware the fury of a patient man” applies to the speech that Obama gave last week at the Democratic National Convention.

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Dryden Had Trump’s Number

Dryden’s “Absolom and Architophel” describes unscrupulous politicians that we would find familiar today.

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After Paris: Dryden on Dangers of Hysteria

In “Absolom and Architophel,” Dryden warns against unscrupulous figures exploiting the hysteria following plots like the Paris massacre.

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A Holiday Gathering of the Bates Clan

The holiday gathering of our family has me thinking of Sir Walter’s Scott’s poem about the gathering of the MacGregor clan.

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