Monthly Archives: August 2018

A Final Resting Place on the Shore

Friday Yesterday Julia and I buried the ashes of writer Rachel Kranz, a dear friend who died a year ago. Her remains were divided between three who were close to her, and I chose to bury those allotted to me on the shore of Lake Eva, which sits on the edge of a bluff in […]

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National Inquirer, Political Sewage

“National Inquirer” is in trouble for having conspired to bury article critical of Donald Trump. Alexander Pope described such publications in “The Dunciad.”

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Poetry Was Used to Bolster the Lost Cause

When the Silent Sam statue was erected in 1913, a speech associated it with defending white womanhood and quoted Tennyson.

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The Novels that Shaped John McCain

McCain’s favorite novels included “Great Gatsby,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Huckleberry Finn,” and works by Somerset Maugham. One can understand why.

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How Dangerous Is a Little Learning?

Pope’s “a little learning” seems dangerous at first glance but the alternative is not entirely attractive.

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I Might Come To Please Him Yet

Richard Wilbur uses proofreading terms to convey God’s mercy in “The Proof.”

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Homage to My Father, a Reader

Friday Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of my father’s death. To remember him, I share one of his poems about reading. My father read to my brothers and me virtually every night when we were growing up, passing along a passion that became our own. In “The Retiring Candle,” he imagines an introverted candle retreating […]

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On Mac the Knife & Presidential Pardons

Trump, like Mac the Knife, is an escape artist extraordinaire. Might a presidential pardon save him as a reprieve saves Mac?

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What Is Truth? Cowper’s Beautiful Answer

In the face of Trump’s constant lying, we need William Cowper, who reminds us of the sanctity of truth.

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