At my eldest son’s funeral 16 years ago we sang “The Lord of the Dance.” Justin was a joyous dancer and I imagine him dancing somewhere, in some plane, whenever I hear the hymn.
Tag Archives: death and dying
I Am the Dance and the Dance Goes On
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Lord of the Dance", "Tis a Gift To Be Simple", "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day", hymns, Justin Bates, Shiva, Sydney Carter | Comments closed
On the Death of a Controversial Judge
How long should one pause following the death of a public figure like Justice Antonin Scalia before considering the political implications? It’s an issue that also arises in Anthony Trollope’s “Barchester Towers.”
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Anthony Trollope, Antonin Scalia, Barchester Towers, politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court | Comments closed
Child Heroines Who Die for Our Sins
The child heroine who dies, a common trope in the 19th century, continues to fascinate us, appearing in “Bridge to Tarabithia” and “The Fault Is in Our Stars.” One of my students has this as a senior project topic.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Annabel Lee", Bridge to Tarabithia, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Children, Edgar Allan Poe, Feminism, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Jane Eyre, Katherine Paterson, Little Women, Louisa Mae Alcott, Old Curiosity Shop, Uncle Tom's Cabin | Comments closed
Hearing the Sound of Roses Singing
For Mary Oliver, going into the woods and paying attention to nature is a form of prayer.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "How I Go to the Woods", Mary Oliver, Nature | Comments closed
He Doth Sit By Us and Moan
Last week I was honored by my friend Jean Yeatman when she asked me to sit with her at her mother’s deathbed. We talked about childhood excursions that our families took together and also about the importance of ritual in our lives. Today’s William Blake poem is for her and her brother Clay. Blake finds […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "On Another's Sorrow", grieving, mourning, William Blake | Comments closed
Please Go Gentle into That Good Night
Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle” can be read as a narcissistic desire by young people that their elders will go out on young people’s terms.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night", Christopher Marlowe, Death of Ivan Ilych, Doctor Faustus, Dylan Thomas, Leo Tolstoy | Comments closed
Dying and a Night Powdered with Stars
Oliver Sacks, as he is dying, shares Milton’s wonder at a night sky “powdered with stars.”
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged astronomy, John Milton, Oliver Sacks, Paradise Lost | Comments closed
Soldier, Rest, Thy Warfare O’er
In “Soldier Rest,” Sir Walter Scott captures how inviting death can look to those caught up in battle’s throes.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Strange Meeting", Lady of the Lake, Memorial Day, Sir Walter Scott, war, Wilfred Owen | Comments closed
Mourning Lincoln, Mourning My Son
Whitman’s mourning of Lincoln in “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” also captures what it feels like to lose a child.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", death of a child, elegies, mourning, Walt Whitman | Comments closed
