Monthly Archives: February 2015

A Song of Love for Julia

By Robin Bates | Published: February 17, 2015

My wife’s beautiful name becomes synonymous with longing in both a Robert Herrick and a John Lennon lyric.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Julia", "Upon Julia's Clothes", John Lennon, love, Marriage, Robert Herrick | Comments closed

Pennywise Kills North Carolina Muslims

By Robin Bates | Published: February 16, 2015

America’s periodic explosions of violence, most recently in the killing of North Carolina Muslim students, is perhaps best captured by the gothic horror of Stephen King, especially in his novel “It.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Craig Martin, gun violence, It, killing of Muslim students, NRA, Stephen King | Comments closed

Learning to Love the Desert

By Robin Bates | Published: February 15, 2015

In “Ash Wednesday,” T. S. Eliot turns the despair of “Hollow Men” on its head, seeing it not as the end of hope but as the beginning of faith.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Ash Wednesday", Lent, Meditation, Prayer, repentance, T. S. Eliot | Comments closed

Spend Valentine’s Day with a Novel

By Robin Bates | Published: February 13, 2015

As you look ahead to Valentine’s Day tomorrow, consider which literary character you would most like to pair up with.

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Sarah Palin as Dorothy

By Robin Bates | Published: February 12, 2015

Sarah Palin’s attraction in part lay in the way that she seemed to be a reincarnation of MGM’s Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Economic hard times, L. Frank Baum, recession, Sarah Palin, symbols, Wizard of Oz | Comments closed

Wizard of Oz, America’s Greatest Fairy Tale

By Robin Bates | Published: February 11, 2015

“The Wizard of Oz” is the quintessential American fairy tale, with roots in a 19th century depression.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bemetallism, Chicago Exposition, Depression, L. Frank Baum, Populism, Wizard of Oz | Comments closed

An Ideal Place to Study Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: February 10, 2015

A summer institute where one buries oneself in books is my version of James Hilton’s Shangri-La.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Business, continuing education, Herman Melville, James Hilton, Lost Horizon, Moby Dick | Comments closed

If Beowulf Went to War with ISIS

By Robin Bates | Published: February 9, 2015

The Jordanian response to the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot reminds us that Grendel’s Mother is on the loose in the Middle East. Beowulf models how we should respond.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Beowulf, blood feuds, Grendel's mother, grieving, ISIL, ISIS, revenge killings | Comments closed

The Unassailable Thankfulness of Life

By Robin Bates | Published: February 8, 2015

In this wonderful poem Robert Barasch steps beyond sterile evolution-creationism debates to insist on the wonder of life.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Miracle, Anyway", Charles Darwin, creationism, evolution, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Islam, religious right, Robert Barasch, Science, Uncle Tom's Cabin | Comments closed