Oliver Sacks, as he is dying, shares Milton’s wonder at a night sky “powdered with stars.”
Monthly Archives: July 2015
The Inner City: Stay or Leave?
How do we get young people to stay in the inner city and make it a better place? Baldwin’s “Sonny Blues” gives us a sense of what is possible.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Education, educational system, inner city, James Baldwin, poverty, Sonny's Blues Comments closed
A Weed’s Zen Acceptance of Fate
If you’re hostile towards garden weeds these days, here’s a very Zen-like Scott Bates poem from a weed’s point of view. Or maybe it’s an existentialist parable about free will.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Contented Weed", existentialism, fatalism, free will, Scott Bates, Zen Buddhism Comments closed
Read Poems for Life w/o Boundaries
U. S. Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, in “Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings,” holds up poetry as far superior to consumer society. A poem is “a way to attain a life without boundaries.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings", immigrants, Juan Felipe Herrera Comments closed
Mood Swings: Inside Out, Rape of the Lock
“Inside Out” has a lot in common with Pope’s “Rape of the Lock.” Both show us the interior drama of their heroines. In both works, the heroines lose touch with their upbeat helpers.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged adolescent mind, Alexander Pope, brain science, Inside Out, neuropsychology, Rape of the Lock, sexual harassment Comments closed
Look Down on Us Who Journey by Night
Alfred Noyes’s “Night Journey” looks to God to find hope in the night.
Plato Anxious about Lit’s Pyschic Impact
Plato’s complaints about literature show up in censorship battles today. They testify to power of literature to invite imitation.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Aescylus, Hesiod, Homer, Iliad, mimesis, neurocriticism, Plato, Republic Comments closed
