If Chaucer’s created a timeless and transcendent character in the Wife of Bath, it is because he listened–really listened–to women.
Author Archives: Robin Bates
A Woman 600 Years Ahead of Her Time
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beowulf, Christian misogyny, Defence of Poetry, Feminism, Geoffrey Chaucer, Harold Bloom, Percy Shelley, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Wife of Bath, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Good Night, Dear Heart
My brother died yesterday. This Mark Twain lyric gets at some of what I’m feeling.
Trump Doth Murder Sleep
Trump and Musk are current-day Macbeths, out to murder American democracy.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Macbeth, Trump's coup, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Unknown Citizens vs. Musk-Trump
While Auden satirizes the “Unknown Citizen,” unknown citizens are currently stepping up to resist Trump and Musk’s attempted coup.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Unknown Citizen", Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Jay Kuo, surveillance state, Trump's coup, W. H. Auden Comments closed
Responding to the Musk-Trump Coup
In response to attempted takeovers such as Elon Musk’s, poet Ilya Kaminsky urges us to wake up and resist. Anne Lamott suggests some of the forms this can take.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "We Lived Happily During the War", Anne Lamott, Elon Musk, Fascism, Ilya Kaminsky, resistance, Ruth Ben-Ghiat Comments closed
Prayer Is Waiting with Desire
Richard Bauckman’s poem about Simeon defines prayer as “waiting with desire.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Wait and See (Semeon and Anna)", Awaiting the messiah, Richard Bauckman, Simeon Comments closed
Fighting the Erasure of History
Black history month is more essential these days than it has been for a while given Trump’s desire to erase it. Black writers are important in keeping it alive.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "i am accused of tending to the past", "Life Every Voice and Sing", 1984, Black History Month, DEI, Donald Trump, George Orwell, James Weldon Johnson, Lucille Clifton, racism Comments closed
Blake vs. GOP’s Strict Father Morality
The “strict father morality” that, according to Lakoff, governs today’s GOP reminds one of William Blake’s Nobodaddy.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Shepherd", "To Nobodaddy", daddy issues, George Lakoff, strict father morality, William Blake Comments closed
Auden on Living in an Age of Anxiety
In “Age of Anxiety,” Auden explains why it’s so hard to pierce fascism’s bubble.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "September 1 1939", Age of Anxiety, Donald Trump, Fascism, Trump cultists, W. H. Auden Comments closed
