Pete Buttigieg seems straight out of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” according to Washington Post’s drama critic.
Monthly Archives: September 2019
Buttigieg, Straight Out of “Our Town”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 2020 presidential campaign, Our Town, Pete Buttigieg, Thornton Wilder Comments closed
To Avoid War, Look to The Iliad
As we once again hear war’s drum beat, it’s good to return to “The Iliad” and its vision of peace: the Achilles-Priam truce.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Homer, Iliad, Iran, Middle East, oil strike, Saudi Arabia, war Comments closed
Calvino on Reading the Classics
In a famous essay, Calvino gives us multiple reasons to read the classics.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Why Read the Classics", classics, Emil Cioran, Franz Kafka, Homer, Italo Calvino, Odyssey Comments closed
Christian Man Bitten by Horse
Mike Pence has claimed he was bitten by Triple Crown winner Pharaoh, bringing to mind Goldsmith’s “Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, horses, Mike Pence, Oliver Goldsmith Comments closed
Which Literary Conman Is Trump?
To understand Trump as conman, I compare him to the King and the Duke, Mac the Knife, Melville’s Confidence Man, Satan & Iago.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beggar's Opera, Confidence Man, conmen, Donald Trump, Herman Melville, Huckleberry Finn, John Gay, John Milton, Mark Twain, Othello, Paradise Lost, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Stately Pines, Cathedral Towers
Many American poets have found God in nature, including Longfellow. His “Cathedral Towers” compares pine trees to a church.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Ode to a Nightingale", "Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church", "Cathedral Towers", Emily Dickinson, forests, God in nature, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Keats Comments closed
Friday 13th Is a Date Bewitched
Friday the 13th My mother unearthed this Friday the 13th poem for her Sewanee Messenger poetry column. Unfortunately, we don’t know the author or the date. Enjoy. Friday, thirteenth, is a date bewitched: So be not born or hanged or hitched Or hired or fired on that day; Cut not thy nails, nor mow the […]
“Invictus,” a Flawed Poem Easily Abused
Thursday In two recent guest posts (here and here), Radnor High School English teacher Carl Rosin describes his students wrestling with two well-known poems that were cited by the Christchurch mass murderer in his justification. One issue is how much leeway a reader has in interpreting a poem. In his students’ responses, Carl mentions some […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Invictus", Christchurch massacre, Soul, William Ernest Henley Comments closed
Brief but Holy Moments of Exchange
Danusha Lameris’s “Small Kindnesses” reminds us that people care about strangers. It’s a message we need to hear.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Kindness", "Small Kindnesses", Danusha Lameris, Society Comments closed
