Monday Yesterday I mentioned Lucille Clifton’s poem “blessing the boats (at st. mary’s).” As I explain below, it was written while Lucille was a colleague at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. I find it a miraculous poem: may the tidethat is entering even nowthe lip of our understandingcarry you outbeyond the face of fearmay you […]

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The Lesson of the Falling Leaves

By Robin Bates | Published: October 16, 2021

Clifton has written simple but powerful poems about letting go, including this autumnal poem.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "lesson of the falling leaves", Autumn, letting go, Lucille Clifton | Comments closed

Bertie Wooster Bungles the Catch

By Robin Bates | Published: October 14, 2021

P.G. Wodehouse wrote poetry as well as the Wooster and Jeeves series.This cricket poem describes how Bertie would play.

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Tough Lives Need Poetry’s Toughness

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2021

A new book on the psychology of life-changing lit has alerted me to some great passages.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Love (3)", bibliotherapy, George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jan Mukarovsky, Jeanette Winterson, T. S. Eliot | Comments closed

Dryden on Charismatic Demagogues

By Robin Bates | Published: October 12, 2021

In Dryden’s Absalom, we see a politician who has Donald Trump’s ability to sway a crowd.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Absalom and Architophel, coup attempt, Donald Trump, GOP, January 6 insurrection, John Dryden, Steve Bannon | Comments closed

Toni Morrison’s Flying Lessons

By Robin Bates | Published: October 11, 2021

After flying with a newly licensed student, I shared passages on flying from Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged flight, Flying, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison | Comments closed

Monthly Archives: October 2021

Literature, the Best Medicine

Pushing Back Against Lit’s Detractors

Literature for Transforming Lives

Blessing the Boats at St. Mary’s

The Lesson of the Falling Leaves

Bertie Wooster Bungles the Catch

Tough Lives Need Poetry’s Toughness

Dryden on Charismatic Demagogues

Toni Morrison’s Flying Lessons

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