In which I compare Trump’s State of the Union speech to Paradise Lost—well, a little bit—and also to Candide.
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Milton, Voltaire, and Trump’s Address
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bill Kristol, Candide, Donald Trump, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Samuel Johnson, State of the Union speech, Voltaire Comments closed
Misuse of Language Induces Evil in the Soul
Le Quin’s advice to a young writer: respect, do not abuse, language.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Task", John Keats, Ursula K Le Guin, William Cowper Comments closed
Hans Brinker’s Successors Bring Home the Gold
The Duchess prowess in speed skating at the Olympics was anticipate in 1865 by the novel “Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, Mary Mapes Dodge, Olympics, speed skating Comments closed
How Did This Dust Learn to Sing?
Two Ash Wednesday poems, by Malcolm Guite and Julia Bates, wonder at the mystery of the creation that arises from dust.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Ash Wednesday", “Daughter of Ashes", climate change, Julia Bates, Lent, Malcolm Guite Comments closed
To Ljubljana, with Love
A Life in Literature: Our second visit to Slovenia and how Walt Whitman became associated with my 15 minutes of fame.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Oh Captain My Captain", Riders of the Purple Sage, Slovenia, Walt Whitman, Zane Grey Comments closed
My Son, Second Generation Lit Blogger
In which I praise my son’s second generation literary blogging.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged blogging, Charles Dickens, Christina Rossetti, Christmas Carol, Goblin Market, John Milton, Lycidas, Tobias Wilson-Bates Comments closed
Yeats’s Second Coming as Fascist Fantasy
Wednesday I recently came across an interpretation of William Butler Yeats’s “The Second Coming” that is getting me to rethink the poem. While I’ve written about liberals who believe that the Trumpian rough beast slouching toward Bethlehem as a bad thing (for instance, here and here), I didn’t consider that Yeats might actually be welcoming […]
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
AG Bondi as Don Trump’s Consigliere
In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, AG Pam Bondi proved herself Trump’s loyal consigliere (c.f. Puzo’s Godfather).
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Godfather, ICE, Justice Department, Mario Puzo, Pam Bondi Comments closed