Monthly Archives: August 2018

The Highland Hills Forever I Love

By Robin Bates | Published: August 21, 2018

As we move into the school year and summer vacation recedes in the distance, we remember Burns’s Highlands (or our version of them).

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Brecht on Speaking Truth to Power

By Robin Bates | Published: August 20, 2018

Monday A Bertolt Brecht poem came to mind when Retired Navy Admiral William H. McRaven came to the defense of former CIA Director John Brennan, stripped of his security clearance by a Donald Trump angry at his criticisms. Vox has the story of what happened: The man who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in […]

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Hearts Seized by What Is Possible

By Robin Bates | Published: August 19, 2018

Chard DeNiord grapples sensitively and intelligently with the meaning of transubstantiation.

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Aretha Put a Spell on Us

By Robin Bates | Published: August 17, 2018

Looking for a poem that captures Aretha Franklin’s power and self-confidence, I chose Lucille Clifton’s “homage to my hips.”

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What Lit Is Good For–A Debate

By Robin Bates | Published: August 16, 2018

Thursday Tim Parks has written a provocative essay for The New York Review of Books, asking, Is literature wise? In the sense, does it help us to live? And if not, what exactly is it good for? If you follow this blog, you already know my answers: –Yes, literature is wiser than we are (and […]

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Existential Stargazing

By Robin Bates | Published: August 15, 2018

A William Bronk star poem prompts reflection on just how little we know, even as we search for grounding.

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Dryden Had Trump’s Number

By Robin Bates | Published: August 14, 2018

Dryden’s “Absolom and Architophel” describes unscrupulous politicians that we would find familiar today.

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When School Drives All Joy Away

By Robin Bates | Published: August 13, 2018

School has already begun in some states, bringing to mind Blake’s lament about school in summer.

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Mourning the Loss of a Son

By Robin Bates | Published: August 12, 2018

Longfellow turned to the story of Absolom to console a friend who had lost a son. “Chamber over the Gate” captures the grief in a supportive way.

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