Monthly Archives: May 2021

Diving into May Flowers

By Robin Bates | Published: May 10, 2021

An Oliver poem and a Murdoch observation for the month of May.

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Is a Fair Election Fight Still Possible?

By Robin Bates | Published: May 9, 2021

“Prince Caspian” has a fight that foregrounds the issues the U.S. confronts regarding free and fair elections.

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O Virgin Mother, Daughter of the Sun

By Robin Bates | Published: May 8, 2021

To celebrate Mother’s Day, here’s the moment in “Paradiso” when Dante meets Mary.

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Built Out of Peasants & Pieces of Glass

By Robin Bates | Published: May 6, 2021

An enjoyable Scott Bates poem about how phallic structures don’t last forever.

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Great Teachers Inspire Great Teachers

By Robin Bates | Published: May 5, 2021

This being Teacher Appreciation Week, I nominate Charlotte Bronte’s Miss Temple as exemplary teacher.

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Lord, How This World Is Given to Lying

By Robin Bates | Published: May 4, 2021

Trump’s big lie about winning in 2020, which has become gospel in certain GOP circles, brings to mind Falstaff’s lying.

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Johnson: Read the Bard, Not Tom Jones

By Robin Bates | Published: May 3, 2021

I share the Samuel Johnson chapter from my book-in-progress.

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The Embattled Classics

By Robin Bates | Published: May 2, 2021

The alt-right is trying to drag the Greek and Roman classics into culture wars again. Classicists are well positioned to fight back.

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Do Not Stand by My Grave and Cry

By Robin Bates | Published: May 1, 2021

As I remember my eldest son, this Clare Harner Lyon poem brings me peace.

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