Monthly Archives: December 2019

Dreaming of a Saturnalian Golden Age

By Robin Bates | Published: December 31, 2019

Wednesday – New Year’s Day Reader Letitia Grimes sent me a poem by Horace so seasonally appropriate that I’m turning my New Year’s post over to her. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a time of merrymaking that has inspired our New Year rituals. At the same time that we celebrate the return of the sun, we […]

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Saying Goodbye to 2019

By Robin Bates | Published: December 30, 2019

William Cullen Bryant reminds us to spend one last thought on the old year before turning to the new.

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Mentor: Rare for Sons to Be Like Fathers

By Robin Bates | Published: December 30, 2019

Homer explores the difficulty of a young man living up to his famous father. It’s a problem that continues with fathers and sons.

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What Would Jesus Think of Christmas?

By Robin Bates | Published: December 28, 2019

A poem arguing that Christmas has strayed from Christ’s mature message.

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Lit that Championed Chimney Sweeps

By Robin Bates | Published: December 26, 2019

Watching modern chimney sweeps at work, I’m relieved that we’ve left behind the days of William Blake and Charles Dickens.

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Welcoming the Stranger

By Robin Bates | Published: December 25, 2019

In Homeric terms, Trump, in his treatment of immigrants, is akin to barbarians like the Cyclops and the Laestrygonians.

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Ring Out Ye Chrystal Spheres

By Robin Bates | Published: December 24, 2019

Milton’s “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” celebrates Christmas with the ornate trumpet-and-organ imagery of the 17th century.

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Feeding Birds in the Bleak Midwinter

By Robin Bates | Published: December 23, 2019

Tuesday – Christmas Eve Over the past few cold and rainy days, chickadees, goldfinches, titmice, and nuthatches have been swarming out feeders, bringing to mind one of my father’s Christmas poems. I first posted it nine years ago. I excerpt a portion of previous post, only adding that (this in response to the allusion to […]

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The Tradition of the Yule-Log

By Robin Bates | Published: December 22, 2019

Christmas symbolism, including the yule-log, comes from many different faith traditions. This helps explain its power.

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