Monthly Archives: December 2022

Mary Sang in This World Below

By Robin Bates | Published: December 11, 2022

Tolkien’s poem “Noel” celebrates Mary’s “Magnificat.”

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Autumn’s Sobbing Violins Wound My Heart

By Robin Bates | Published: December 8, 2022

Paul Verlaine’s “Autumn Song” is a beautiful hymn to melancholy.

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Rethinking Oleanna

By Robin Bates | Published: December 7, 2022

I’m rethinking Mamet’s “Oleanna” after seeing a Slovenian philosophy student praise it. In the past, I have hated the play for what I see as its attack on feminism.

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The Green Knight Film? Ugh!

By Robin Bates | Published: December 6, 2022

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is a profound meditation on death and a comic masterpiece. The film about it? Not so much.

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A Poem for a Dark, Dismal Day

By Robin Bates | Published: December 5, 2022

Paul Verlaine’s “Tears Fall in My Heart” is a good poem for a rainy day.

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Confused about Gender? Read 12th Night

By Robin Bates | Published: December 4, 2022

“12th Night” shows that gender is far more fluid than the right likes to think. We all need to acknowledge this.

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Thou Cam’st a Little Baby Thing

By Robin Bates | Published: December 3, 2022

George MacDonald’s “That Holy Thing” dramatically makes the point that God doesn’t show up in our lives as we expect or think we want.

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It Was in the Bleak December

By Robin Bates | Published: December 1, 2022

Poe’s “The Raven” is one way to usher in “bleak December.” The poem works on the play between madness and reason.

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