Swinburne’s “Garden of Proserpine,” a good poem for when you’re feeling fed up with life.
Author Archives: Robin Bates
A Poem for When You’re Feeling Weary
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Garden of Proserpine", "Lotus Eaters", Alfred Lord Tennyson, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Depression, Sigmund Freud, T. S. Eliot, Waste Land Comments closed
Vlad’s Black Riders, Trump’s Tell-Tale Heart
Recent literature citations by opinion writers include “Lord of the Rings,” “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Amanda Marcotte, Edgar Allan Poe, Greg Olear, J.R.R. Tolkien, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Lord of the Rings, Secret police, Tell-Tale Heart, Trump trials, Washington Irving Comments closed
Caste in a Multicultural Democracy
To grapple with Wilkerson’s understanding of racism as a caste system, I turn to Langston Hughes, Twain, and Arundhati Roy.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Ku Klux", Arundhati Roy, Caste, Dalits, God of Small Things, Huckleberry Finn, Isabel Wilkerson, Langston Hughes, Mark Twain, Origins, racism Comments closed
Bridges and the American Dream
The Key Bridge disaster–and doubts about America’s response–brings to mind Hart Crane’s bridge poem, a hymn to America aspiring to greatness.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Bridge", American Dream, bridges, Hart Crane, infrastructure, Key Bridge disaster, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston Comments closed
On Hummingbirds and…Menstruation?!
With hummingbirds beginning to arrive, here’s a hummingbird poem comparing them to…menstruation!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "homage to my hips", "Last Hummingbird of Summer", "to my last period", Beth Fennelly, hummingbirds, Lucille Clifton, menstruation Comments closed
Moscow’s Terror Attack and Big Brother
Like Big Brother, Putin is attempting to change the facts of the Moscow terrorist attack to justify his political goals.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 1984, George Orwell, Moscow terror attack, Russo-Ukraine War, Vladimir Putin Comments closed
Beware Freeing an Authoritarian Gulliver
Dreams of a strongman freeing himself from Lilliputian ropes is a dangerous fantasy, Swift explains.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged authoritarianism, autocracy vs. democracy, Donald Trump, Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift Comments closed
Joe Biden as Old Father William
Think of Joe Biden as Lewis Carroll’s Old Father William, who pushes back against ageism.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them", "You Are Old Father William", Aging, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Lewis Carroll, Robert Southey Comments closed
