Tag Archives: mourning

How Owen Meany Comforts the Bereaved

By Robin Bates | Published: October 23, 2017

In his interactions with friends and family of slain Green Beret Sgt. La David Johnson, Trump is making the issue about himself. “Prayer for Owen Meany” reminds us that we should focus instead on the mourners.

Posted in Irving (John) | Also tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

He Doth Sit By Us and Moan

By Robin Bates | Published: August 30, 2015

Last week I was honored by my friend Jean Yeatman when she asked me to sit with her at her mother’s deathbed. We talked about childhood excursions that our families took together and also about the importance of ritual in our lives. Today’s William Blake poem is for her and her brother Clay. Blake finds […]

Posted in Blake (William) | Also tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Mourning Lincoln, Mourning My Son

By Robin Bates | Published: April 30, 2015

Whitman’s mourning of Lincoln in “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” also captures what it feels like to lose a child.

Posted in Whitman (Walt) | Also tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

  • AVAILABLE NOW!

  • Literature is as vital to our lives as food and shelter. Stories and poems help us work through the challenges we face, from everyday irritations to loneliness, heartache, and death. Literature is meant to mix it up with life. This website explores how it does so.

    Please feel free to e-mail me [rrbates (at) smcm (dot) edu]. I would be honored to hear your thoughts and questions about literature.

  • Sign up for weekly newsletter

    Your email will not be shared or sold.
    * = required field

    powered by MailChimp!

  •  Subscribe in a reader

  • Twitter Authentication data is incomplete