The footrace in “Aeneid’s” epic games is a chaotic affair, involving some actual cheating.
Author Archives: Robin Bates
Homer and the Early Olympics
Watching the Olympics, I thought of the games in “The Odyssey.”
Kamala, Sanskrit for Lotus
“Kamala” is Sanskrit for lotus. This Scott Bates poem on the fertility symbolism of the lotus captures some of Harris’s strengths.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "I Is for Isis", Election 2024, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Scott Bates Comments closed
I Am the Bread of Life
Jesus declared that he was “the bread of life.” These poems explore the metaphor.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Blessing the Bread", "Book of Verses", "Corpus Christi", "Meditation on John 6:51", "Ode to Bread", "Stepping Westward", Christ, Denise Levertov, Edward Taylor, eucharist, Evelyn Underhill, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lynn Ungar, Omar Khayyam, Pablo Neruda, Philip Pullman, Rubaiyat, Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Comments closed
Kamala Harris Meets the Fisher King
Harris rejuvenating the race after taking over from Biden brings to mind the myth of the fisher king.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Chrétien de Troyes, Donald Trump, Election 2024, fisher king, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Perceval, T.S. Eliot, Waste Land Comments closed
Trump as Chaucer’s Pardoner
Think of Trump as Chaucer’s Pardoner, a conman who thinks he can trick people he’s revealed his tricks to.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Election 2024, Falstaff, Geoffrey Chaucer, greed, Harold Bloom, Kamala Harris, Pardoner's Prologue and Tale, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Harris’s Laugh and the Wife of Bath
Kamala Harris’s big-hearted laugh puts her in Chaucer’s Wife of Bath territory. Trump is more like the Pardoner.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Geoffrey Chaucer, Kamala Harris, Laughter, Pardoner, Wife of Bath Comments closed
The Opening Ceremonies Explained
To appreciate the opening ceremonies in the Paris Olympics, it helps to know some French literature.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alexander Dumas, Arsène Lupin, Assassin''s Creed, Gaston Leroux, Les Misérables, Man in a Iron Mask, Maurice Leblanc, Paris Olympics, Phantom of the Opera, Victor Hugo Comments closed
Simone Biles Rises
Gymnast GOAT Biles has a tattoo of a line from Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” to inspire her.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Still I Rise", Election 2024, Kamala Harris, misogyny, Olympics, racism, Simone Biles Comments closed
