Monthly Archives: February 2023

All Our Seeing Rinsed and Cleansed

By Robin Bates | Published: February 18, 2023

In “Transfiguration,” poet Edwin Muir discussed what it means to have our sight rinsed and cleansed.

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Old Love in Shapes That Renew Forever

By Robin Bates | Published: February 16, 2023

A Tagore poem for my wife on her 71st birthday.

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Nikki Haley, Straight Out of 1984

By Robin Bates | Published: February 15, 2023

Nikki Haley, who has just announced her presidential ambitions, resembles Tom Parsons in “1984”–which is to say, a soulless apparatchik.

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How Much Can Homer Shape a Life?

By Robin Bates | Published: February 14, 2023

In “North and South,” Gaskell has a character argue against overselling the influence of the classics.

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Love Is Not All. But…

By Robin Bates | Published: February 13, 2023

Millay makes a strong case against love in her sonnet, but love wins out anyway.

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Super Bowl: One Leg, Still Deadly

By Robin Bates | Published: February 12, 2023

All but playing on one leg, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a second Super Bowl victory. Think of him as Long John Silver.

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A Mistake to Put God in the Sky

By Robin Bates | Published: February 11, 2023

Mystic poet Celan Harkin tries to reimagine God and prayer in “The Worst Thing.”

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Poetry in the Face of Disaster

By Robin Bates | Published: February 9, 2023

Even poetry seems inadequate in the face of a disaster like the Turkish-Syrian earthquake. But poetry is what we have.

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Shakespearean Praise for King James

By Robin Bates | Published: February 8, 2023

Shakespeare’s praise for the historical King James can be applied to new NBA scoring champion Lebron James.

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