Monthly Archives: October 2023

Finn, Hengest, and Terror in Israel

By Robin Bates | Published: October 10, 2023

The Finn episode in Beowulf applies only to well to the Hamas terror attack on Israel–and to the probable Israeli response.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 9-11, Beowulf, Grendel's mother, Hamas, Hamas terror attack, Israel, Terrorism, Timothy Snyder | Comments closed

Grendel’s Mother Attacks Israel

By Robin Bates | Published: October 9, 2023

Hamas’s attack on Israel brings to mind Grendel’s Mother, who is the archetype of perpetual blood feuds.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anti-Semitism, Beowulf, Grendel's mother, Hamas, Israel, Oct. 7 Israel attack, Terrorism | Comments closed

Got a Problem? Call a Poet

By Robin Bates | Published: October 8, 2023

Tragedy, it turns out, is a powerful literary form for dealing with posttraumatic fear.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aeschylus, Agamemnon, Angus Fletcher, Aristotle, bibliotherapy, catharsis, literary technique, Oedipus, philosophy, posttraumatic fear, PTSD, Rhetoric, Sigmund Freud, sophists, Sophocles, Wonderworks | Comments closed

St. Francis: Made for Beauty

By Robin Bates | Published: October 7, 2023

St. Francis radically changed the way we see beauty and ourselves in relationship to beauty.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "As Kingfishers Catch Fire", "Francis Meets a Leper", "Saint Francis and the Birds", "St. Clare Dies at Her Mirror", "St. Francis and the Sow, Bonaventure, Clare, Dante, David Citino, Duns Scotus, Galway Kinnell, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Life of a Saint: After Giotto, Marilyn Nelson, Murray Bodo, Paradiso, Plato, Seamus Heaney, St. Francis, Thomas of Celano | Comments closed

Rising Anti-Semitism, So Call the Golem

By Robin Bates | Published: October 5, 2023

The Golem of Prague may be the forerunner of many comic book characters. With rising-Antisemitism, we still need him.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, anti-Semitism, comic books, Donald Trump, Fascism, golem of Prague | Comments closed

Poetic Incentives to Take Long Walks

By Robin Bates | Published: October 4, 2023

If you are a walker, read 17th century poet Thomas Traherne to deepen the experience.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged George Herbert, Nature, Thomas Traherne, Walking, William Blake, wonder | Comments closed

Russia’s “Expendable” Invaders

By Robin Bates | Published: October 3, 2023

Russia’s invading army regards certain men as expendable. I am reminded of the shrews in the “Redwall” books by Jacques.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Brian Jacques, casualties of war, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Redwall, Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin, war | Comments closed

To Understand Trump, Read Gogol

By Robin Bates | Published: October 2, 2023

To understand Trump’s con, read Gogol’s “Dead Souls.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dead Souls, Donald Trump con games, Nikolai Gogol | Comments closed

On Defending Books against Bullies

By Robin Bates | Published: October 1, 2023

On book banning and how to respond to the banners.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Smut", Antonia Scatton, Beloved, Book banning, censorship, Tom Lehrer, Toni Morrison | Comments closed

Monthly Archives: October 2023

Finn, Hengest, and Terror in Israel

Grendel’s Mother Attacks Israel

Got a Problem? Call a Poet

St. Francis: Made for Beauty

Rising Anti-Semitism, So Call the Golem

Poetic Incentives to Take Long Walks

Russia’s “Expendable” Invaders

To Understand Trump, Read Gogol

On Defending Books against Bullies

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