In “Parable of the Old Man and the Young,” Wilfred Owen calls out the war mongers who sacrifice their youth. The poem applies only too well to our current leaders.
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Wilfred Owen on Murderous War Leaders
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged “Parable of the Old Man and the Young", anti-war poetry, Iran invasion, war, Wilfred Owen Comments closed
MAGA Christians Fall for Satan’s Temptations
We’re hearing reports to certain American military commanders viewing the Iran attack as ordered by Jesus. The need to revisit the account of Satan’s temptation of Jesus (along with Milton’s version).
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Christian nationalism, John Milton, Paradise Regained, Tehran bombing Comments closed
“Better Living” Emerged from a Midnight Epiphany
In the latest installment of “A Life Lived in Literature,” I recount the origins of “Better Living through Beowulf.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alexander Pope, Benjamin Franklin, blogging, Daniel Defoe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Gatsby, Jane Austen, Poor Richard’s Almanack, Pride and Prejudice, Rape of the Lock, Robinson Crusoe, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Wife of Bath Comments closed
Trump’s Duck Soup of a War
Trump’s Tehran bombing is like a mash-up of George Orwell and the Marx Brothers.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 1984, Donald Trump, Duck Soup, George Orwell, Marx Brothers, Tehran bombing Comments closed
Hockey, Trump, and Ellison’s Invisible Man
The unfortunate aftermath of the American hockey victory has me thinking of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Some explaining is required.
Brother Fire Unleased upon Tehran
The bombing of Tehran brings to mind Louis MacNeice’s “Brother Fire,” about the London blitzkrieg. 15 years ago I wrote about the poem as the U.S. was about to bomb Libya.
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Scientific Wonder and the Longing for God
In “Astronomical Psalms for a Vast Universe,” astrophysicist Arnold Benz combines a scientific exploration of the universe with spiritual insight.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Arnold Benz, Astronomical Psalms for a Vast Universe, astrophysics, science and religion Comments closed
Forging a Separate Identity from My Father
I which I explore the difficulties of a son forging an identity separate from his father.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, fathers and sons, Homer, Odyssey, Scott Bates, Ulysses Comments closed