Mary Oliver’s “In Blackwater Woods” instructs us in how to live and how to die.
Tag Archives: death and dying
Upon the Anniversary of My Son’s Death
Remembering my son’s death brings to mind a beautiful elegy by John Dryden.
Brothers Bonding over a Father’s Illness
Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” about two brothers learning to bond, captures some of the bonding I am doing with my second brother over our father’s illness.
Poetry in a Time of Mourning
Poetry by E. A. Robinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay played a key role in my cousin’s memorial service.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "I burn my candle at both ends", "L'Envoi", "Luke Havergal", "Minniver Cheevy", Ballad of the Beanetown Bosox, Daniel Bates, E. A. Robinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay | Comments closed
I Thought That Love Would Last Forever…
The death of a beloved cousin is throwing me into the primal pain described by Tennyson and Auden.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Danny Boy", "Stop All the Clocks", Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam, W. H. Auden | Comments closed
Art Goes Where Humans Can’t
A dying professor in Gail Godwin’s novel “The Good Husband” turns to John Donne’s “Second Anniversary” to comfort her.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Second Anniversary", Gail Godwin, Good Husband, John Donne | Comments closed
The Dead Return to Comfort Us
The Pedro Almodovar film “Volver” explores the longing the love will prove more powerful than death.
Facing Up to the Gargoyle of Cancer
One of my students is exploring her mother’s terminal illness, and her own grieving, through Gail Godwin’s novel “The Good Husband.”
Faustus’s Soul and a Grieving Student
This past year I have learned, in a new and powerful way, that the Faustus legend is a powerful exploration of the meaning of life and death. This is thanks to Caitie Harrigan, a senior at St. Mary’s who has been writing her senior project on the legend. As Caitie told me recently, she never […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, grieving | Comments closed
