New York Times columnist David Brooks says that the GOP is striking a Faustian bargain by collaborating with Donald Trump. Christopher Marlowe shows the price that is paid for dealing with the devil and also tells us how one can get one’s soul back.
Monthly Archives: January 2017
One Equal Temper of Heroic Hearts
Federer and Nadal resumed their legendary rivalry in the Australian Open finals and played a match for the ages. They are both old in tennis terms and by all rights should have been surpassed by the next generation. Therefore Tennyson’s “Ulysses” seems the proper poem to acknowledge them.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, Australian Open, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, tennis, Ulysses Comments closed
Trump’s Crusoe Wall Goes Up in Airports
This past weekend so a flurry of illegal and unconstitutional executive orders that created chaos in airports and elsewhere as travelers from certain countries found themselves in detention. Defoe captures versions of such dramas in “Robinson Crusoe.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Daniel Defoe, Donald Trump, executive orders, immigrants, Robinson Crusoe, Steve Bannon Comments closed
Words That Grow Firm Like Crystals
In Kahlil Gibran’s “Jesus, the Son of Man,” various known and unknown figures describe encounters with Jesus. In “Matthew,” the poet distills the Book of Matthew into a series of Sermon and the Mount style pronouncements,
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Matthew", Beatitudes, Jesus the Son of Man, Kahlil Gibran, Sermon on the Mount Comments closed
The World’s One Hope: Compassion
Bertolt Brecht’s “”The World One Hope” addresses the problem of growing callousness but then points to how we can break through to compassion.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "World's One Hope", Bertolt Brecht, discrimination, Donald Trump, GOP, oppression, Trumpism Comments closed
Interpreting Lit by Computer
A new study purports to “reveal what exactly it is about popular stories that makes us love them most.” Your own explanations about why you love the characters you do are for more revealing. I include David Lodge’s mockery of such computer studies in his novel “Small World.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged academic scholarship, Campus novels, David Lodge, Small World, Structuralism Comments closed
Trump to Torture’s Opponents: Drop Dead
Donald Trump wants to bring back torture, specifically waterboarding. Like the colonel in Carolyn Forché’s poem by that name, he is a showman who seeks to intimidate.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Colonel", Carolyn Forché, Donald Trump, torture, Waterboarding Comments closed
Holding to Higher Principles
Poets and other artists help keep alive the flame of higher principles. That’s why authoritarians like Donald Trump last out against them.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged higher principles, John Louis, Miguel de Cervantes, moral authority Comments closed
