In this poem, Jane Kenyon speaks of moments that come with the force of revelation.
Monthly Archives: May 2022
I Am the Blossom Pressed in the Book
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Briefly It Enters and Briefly Speaks", Jane Kenyon, Julian of Norwich, Revelation Comments closed
Literary Tweeting
Comic tweets by my favorite master of the twitterverse.
All Authoritarians Are Like Richard III
Shakespeare gives us a brilliant depiction of the authoritarian mindset in “Richard III.” Think Trump and Putin.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged authoritarians, Donald Trump, Fascism, Richard III, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Stephen Greenblatt, Strongmen Mussolini to the Present, Tyrant Shakespeare on Politics, tyrants, William Shakespeare Comments closed
This Time Grendel Chose Buffalo
Wednesday In the wake of the horrific race killings in Buffalo, I am simply updating a past post because I can’t think of anything new to say. When I launched this blog 13 years ago, I called it Better Living through Beowulf because Beowulf is the starting text for those of us specializing in British Literature. I used Beowulf to represent […]
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Imagine Hemingway in Ukraine
Ukrainian resistance to the Russians has me reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and I’m seeing a lot of similarities.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Lincoln Brigade, Spanish Civil War, Ukraine invasion, war Comments closed
They Really Are Coming for Your Body
Monday Although I’m 70 years old, I’m always learning, and one thing I’ve grasped in a new way over the past six years is that appeasement doesn’t stop bullies. My natural inclination when I encounter disagreement is to make concessions in hopes that the other side will engage in good faith negotiating, but Trump and […]
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Reporting on My Lenten Observance
For my Lenten observance, I read “Faerie Queene,” Book I–in which (at one point) Lenten observance gets taken to an extreme.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Easter, Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene, Lent, Lenten penance Comments closed
If You Find Joy, Give in to It
End your week on an upbeat note with Mary Oliver’s “Don’t Hesitate.”
Russia Has Always Hated Ukrainian Lit
Russia has long sought to impose its language on its neighbors, sometimes even outlawing their indigenous lit.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged cultural genocide, Frantz Fanon, liberation movements, Taras Shevchenko, Vladimir Nabokov, Wretched of the Earth Comments closed
