Emily Dickinson matches Poe in gothic horror and is worth reading on Halloween.
Monthly Archives: October 2025
Existentialism for High School Seniors
In continuing my memoirs, I look at the importance of existential writers during my high school years.
ICE Agents and Falstaff’s Army
ICE recruitment is, in many ways, proving a disaster, bringing to mind Falstaff’s recruiting methods in “Henry IV, Part II.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Falstaff, Henry IV Part 2, ICE, recruitment, Williams Shakespeare Comments closed
Imploding Edifices, in D.C. and in Lit
Trump demolishing the East Wing of the White House brings to mind various imploding edifices in lit: “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” “Fall of the House of Usher,” and “Princess and Curdie.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Edgar Allan Poe, Fall of the House of Usher, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, George MacDonald, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Princess and Curdie, White House demolition Comments closed
Trump’s Anarchy vs. No Kings Rallies
Shelley’s “Masque of Anarchy” describes Trumpism’s anarchy but also shows a powerful way to respond.
On Visiting Old Churches
A thoughtful Phil Larkin poem about visiting an old country church and what he discovered there.
My Time at Sewanee Military Academy
The latest installment of “my life in literature” series, this one involving my high school years in a military academy.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged adolescence, Catcher in the Rye, Great Gatsby, Homer, Iliad, J.D. Salinger, John Milton Comments closed
MAGA News Too Much? Be Mithridates
Housman’s “Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff” provides useful advice for emotionally surviving Trumpism.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Terence This Is Stupid Stuff", A. E. Housman, Greg Olear, MAGA, Trumpism Comments closed
Finn, the Woke King in Beowulf
Frisian king Finn in “Beowulf” is an example of a woke monarch and Beowulf himself works as a positive model. But the poem also points out the potent forces arrayed against them.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged American violence, Beowulf, divided nation, Finn Saga Comments closed
