In a grad school class I once heard Peter Lehmann, a friend of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, say that, during the London blitzkrieg of 1940-41, all the London bookshops sold out their poetry. This means, I think, that in times of tragedy we turn to poetry for solace. It’s like the way that people who […]
Tag Archives: death of a child
Can Pastoral Elegies Ease the Pain?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Adonais, John Milton, Lycidas, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Johnson Comments closed
Poetry in the Face of Death
Because of my concerns over my friend Alan and his cancer, I will spend another week looking at the role that poetry can play as we confront death and dying. Today’s entry describes how poetry made its way into my life following the death of my son Justin, described in last week’s opening entry […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Fall of Icarus, Lost Children, Mary Oliver, Musee des Beaux Arts, Pieter Breugel, W. H. Auden Comments closed
Gawain’s Castle of Life and Death
In the weeks following my son Justin’s death, after the funeral and the memorial service and the departure of friends and relatives, I retreated into my study (it was summer vacation). I had to do something so I returned to a book I had begun writing on “how classic British literature can change your life.” […]
