May Sarton’s “All Souls” finds that a new richness comes with mourning. We acknowledge how entwined we were with those who have passed on.
Monthly Archives: October 2020
For Halloween, Read Headley’s Beowulf
For Halloween, reread Headley’s new translation of Beowulf, which uses the language of millennials and generation z.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beowulf, Beowulf poet, Halloween, Maria Dahvana Headley Comments closed
Do Not Let Your Anger Drown You
Many Trump supporters are consumed by anger. Dante shows how they construct their own hells in the process.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Dante, Donald Trump, Election 2020, Election anger, Inferno, Joe Biden Comments closed
Protest, Don’t Sin by Silence
Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s “Protest” was written in 1914 but it might just as well have been written today given its relevance.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Protest", Election 2020, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, protest, Rachel Carson, Silent Spring Comments closed
Despite Trump, the Rivers Kept Speaking
Jane Hirshfield’s “Fifth Day,” written five days into the Trump administration, capture the president’s war against science and the environment.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Fifth Day", Alexander Pope, Dunciad, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Environment, Jane Hirshfield, Rachel Carson, Silent Spring Comments closed
Ostriker: Still Carried Away by America
Ostriker’s “America the Beautiful” acknowledges two Americas but speaks to the ideal of indivisibility, as expressed in the “Pledge of Allegiance.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Ghazal America the Beautiful", Alicia Ostriker, America the Beautiful, Pledge of Allegiance, political polarization, Star Spangled Banner Comments closed
Parental Despair over Trump’s Orphans
Spiritual Sunday I don’t throw around the word “evil” lightly, but the Trump administration deliberately and systematically tearing children away from their asylum-seeking parents was evil. Although some of the children were still breastfeeding, Trump and his minions didn’t care enough to ensure the families could be reunited, which means that he may have created […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged asylum seekers, Donald Trump, family separation practices, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, slaughter of the innocents Comments closed
Scott Atlas, a Fieldingesque Quack
Fielding’s jabs at quack doctors in “Tom Jones” are suddenly relevant again given Trump’s approach to the pandemic.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Center for Disease Control, COVID-19, Deborah Birx, Donald Trump, Henry Fielding, quack doctors, Robert Redfield, Scott Atlas, Tom Jones Comments closed
Trump as a Gibbering Ice Giant
For those expecting a coherent debate out of Trump tonight, check out the ice giant Nimrod in Dante’s “Inferno.” We can expect the same incoherence from the president.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 2020 election, Dante, Donald Trump, Inferno, Nimrod, Tower of Babel Comments closed
