Emily Dickinson has written the most passionate summer poem I know.
Monthly Archives: June 2013
Ah, Those Sensuous Summer Days
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "I tase a liquor never brewed", Emily Dickinson, summer Comments closed
The Zen of an Old Growth Forest
Biologist David Haskell approaches forests in a way that is both scientific and poetic.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Each and All", "Flower in the Crannied Wall", Alfred Lord Tennyson, David Haskell, forest, Henry David Thoreau, Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Tibetan Buddhism Comments closed
When Surveillance Is Incompetent
When, in a post last week, I found parallels between the National Security Agency’s extensive data mining attempts and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, I neglected to mention (as this New Yorker essay does) that one has to be careful with books that have themselves become symbols. When this happens, they become like clichés, losing their […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 1984, eavesdropping, George Orwell, Jules Feiffer, Little Murders, NSA, surveillance Comments closed
Reading to Learn Who We Are
Vivian Gornick reflects on why Colette and Mary McCarthy meant so much to her as a 20-something in the 1950s.
Hiding behind the “I” in Lit Essays
Using “I” in literature essays doesn’t necessarily lead to more engagement with the work.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "England in 1819", Fan's Notes, Frederick Exley, Percy Shelley, teaching literature Comments closed
The Deep (Not Scientific) Truth of Genesis
The Book of Genesis, like poetry, captures truths inaccessible to science.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bible, Genesis, Marilynne Robinson, Religion, Richard Dawkins, Science Comments closed
The Spurs as Auden’s Unknown Citizen
The San Antonio Spurs as so perfect that they’re boring–like Auden’s “Unknown Citizen.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Unknown Citizen", Basketball, NBA, San Antonio Spurs, Sports, W. H. Auden Comments closed
In Solitary Others We See Ourselves
When a Maine hermit is arrested after 27 years in solitude, we project our stories upon him.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Something", Daniel Defoe, Harper Lee, loneliness, Mary Oliver, Robinson Crusoe, To Kill a Mockingbird Comments closed
For My Father’s 90th Birthday
I celebrate my father’s 90th birthday today with R. S. Thomas’ rich poem about visiting a 90-year-old woman.
