Tag Archives: Alfred Lord Tennyson

Let Us Sail into the Promise of the Day

By Robin Bates | Published: October 12, 2019

E. A. Robinson’s “Children of the Night” finds spiritual hope in a dark world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Crannied Wall

By Robin Bates | Published: August 11, 2019

Monday On the way back from a family function in Iowa, Julia, my mother and I stopped off in Springfield, Il. Yesterday we visited the spectacular house that Frank Lloyd Wright built for Dana Thomas in 1902-04. Upon entering the structure, we were greeted by a statue bearing the label of a Tennyson poem. Looking […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

Fathers & Sons: He Goes His Way, I Mine

By Robin Bates | Published: May 21, 2019

Wednesday The talk with my son that I described in Monday’s post reminded me of talks with my own father where I was sure he was wrong. I’ve since concluded that I was not as right as I thought I was and that our disagreements came down to our different life arcs. Our arguments came […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed

Will Odysseus Shape 2020 Election?

By Robin Bates | Published: April 14, 2019

Monday I won’t take credit for this but Washington Post’s Molly Roberts recently penned a very Better-Living-with Beowulf type column where she contrasted two Democratic presidential candidates by examining which version of the Odysseus/Ulysses story they prefer. Her piece gives me an excuse to apply other versions of the story to various 2020 contenders. Roberts […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Fantasy Keeps Dreams Alive

By Robin Bates | Published: February 21, 2019

Thursday In Monday’s and Tuesday’s posts (see here and here), I laid out the outlines of my first “Wizards and Enchantresses” class, which I’m currently teaching as part of Sewanee’s Lifelong Learning Program. The first class I devoted to Merlin, the second will focus on Morgan Le Fay, the third will take up Shakespeare’s Prospero, […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Poetry Was Used to Bolster the Lost Cause

By Robin Bates | Published: August 29, 2018

When the Silent Sam statue was erected in 1913, a speech associated it with defending white womanhood and quoted Tennyson.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

The Declining English Major

By Robin Bates | Published: July 2, 2018

An English prof, sensing obsolescence, turns to “In Memoriam” (also Fowles, Wordsworth & Arnold).

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Eagles’ Win Was Like a Thunderbolt

By Robin Bates | Published: February 4, 2018

A Tennyson poem to toast the Super Bowl champs.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Recovering from the Semester

By Robin Bates | Published: December 19, 2017

After an exhausting semester, I feel like Tennyson’s Arthur after his final battle. I’m spending my winter break with my wife and my mother in Sewanee, Tennessee, my version of Avalon.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed