Gilpin’s poem “Life after Death” prompts us to honor those who have gone before.
Author Archives: Robin Bates
Even Dead Trees Cast a Shadow
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged ancestors, cycle of life, death, Laura Gilpin, life after death Comments closed
Biopunk and a Judge’s IVF Ruling
Biopunk is a genre that arose in the 1990’s in response to questions about what it means to be human given the rapid advance of biotechnology.
Imagining a New Creation
In “Green Gospel,” Gatta imagines notions of sin and salvation applied to nature.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Then Will Come Soft Rain", "What stood will stand, Green Gospel, John Gatta, John Milton, Nature, Paradise Lost, Sarah Teasdale, though all be fallen", Wendell Berry Comments closed
Literature in Time of War
Poetry has always been present in times of war but with mixed success at improving conditions.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged burning books, Ernest Hemingway, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Hitler, Homer, Iliad, King John, Louis Untemeyer, Modern American and British Poetry, Nadezhda Mandelstam, Osip Mandelstam, Robert Graves, Stalin, Uncle Tom's Cabin, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Tim Scott’s Self-Debasement
Sen. Tim Scott’s self-abasement before Donald Trump brings to mind various “Uncle Tom” poems written by Black authors.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "All of Us Are All of Us", "robert", "Uncle Tom", Donald Trump, Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Lindsey Graham, Lucille Clifton, racism, Tim Scott, Uncle Tom's Cabin Comments closed
Revisiting “It Can’t Happen Here”
Mother Jones columnist David Corn finds increasing relevance in Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel “It Can’t Happen Here.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 1984, Donald Trump, Fascism, George Orwell, It Can't Happen Here, MAGA, Sinclair Lewis Comments closed
Revolutionary Mother Goose
Mother goose rhymes, nonsense verse, and playful fantasy are essential to our mental health.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Owl and the Pussycat", Age of Reason, Alice in Wonderland, Alice through the Looking Glass, anarchy, Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss, Edward Lear, Essay on Human Understanding, John Locke, Lewis Carroll, Mother Goose Comments closed
What Are Days For? Larkin’s Non Answer
In “Days,”Larkin urges us to make the most of each day.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Days", "Garden of Love", living in the moment, Macbeth, Philip Larkin, William Blake, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Every Stone and Every Star a Tongue
17th century poet Traherne as an early version of Green Gospel, a recent book by John Gatta.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Dumbness", "Sand Is Endless", Alfred Lord Tennyson, Environmentalism, Green Gospel, John Gatta, Nature, Thomas Traherne, Trinity, Walking, William Blake Comments closed
