Monthly Archives: April 2021

My Son’s Death and Two Tree Poems

Today, the anniversary of my son’s death and also Arbor Day, I link the two days with two tree poems.

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Saving the Classics from Ideologues

A Univ. of Chicago classicist fears the alt-right will appropriate the classics for their own ends.

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Greek Tragedy & the Fragility of Goodness

Martha Nussbaum contents that Aristotle’s use of Greek tragedy gave him a particularly rich vision of how to lead a good life.

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Poetry Must Delight AND Instruct

Horace believes that the best poetry simultaneously delights and instructs, proving to be practical and entertaining simultaneously.

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A Partial Defense of Plato’s Poet Ban

Perhaps Plato banished poets from his ideal society because he appreciated the destructive potential of stories. He’s relevant in light of today’s conspiracy theories.

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A Young Black Servant Intently Listening

In another of her Easter poems, Levertov focusing on the servant serving the Emmaus dinner.

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A Poem for Guilt-Ridden Witnesses

Some of the first-hand witnesses at the Derek Chauvin trial felt guilty for not having done more. Lucille Clifton has a poem to reassure them.

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Joyce’s Eveline & Vaccine Resistance

Republicans refusing the Covid vaccine remind me of Eveline in Joyce’s “Dubliners.”

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Byron, Shelley & Greek Independence

A case can be made that Byron and Shelley poems had a tangible effect on the 1820s Greek rebellion.

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