Monthly Archives: May 2012

They Are All Gone into the World of Light

By Robin Bates | Published: May 13, 2012

In “Ascension Hymn,” Henry Vaughan laments that he can catch only glimpses of God’s glory.

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Sendak and Children’s Interior Worlds

By Robin Bates | Published: May 12, 2012

Maurice Sendak knew how the honor the interiority of children.

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Listen to the Music that Is All around You

By Robin Bates | Published: May 11, 2012

In “As It Is in Heaven,” a famous conductor travels back to his childhood town and helps a church choir find the music that is in and around them.

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Why Can’t Mitt Fake Authenticity?

By Robin Bates | Published: May 10, 2012

Klaus Mann’s novel “Mephisto” applied to Mitt Romney gives us insight into whether can give a strong presidential performance while being inauthentic.

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When Werther-Fever Upended Europe

By Robin Bates | Published: May 9, 2012

Goethe’s “Sorrows of Young Werther” created a sensation in 1774, with a young cult following and older attackers.

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Art Goes Where Humans Can’t

By Robin Bates | Published: May 8, 2012

A dying professor in Gail Godwin’s novel “The Good Husband” turns to John Donne’s “Second Anniversary” to comfort her.

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When Great Artists Do Bad Things

By Robin Bates | Published: May 7, 2012

Gertrude Stein’s Vichy sympathies raise the issue of the contrast between an artist’s politics and his or her art.

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Anchorless and Yet Anchored

By Robin Bates | Published: May 6, 2012

St. John of the Cross finds that love shows itself the strongest when we live in “darkness without light.”

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The Hunger Games & the Job Market

By Robin Bates | Published: May 4, 2012

“The Hunger Games” captures how my students see the contemporary job situation.

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