The suicide della Vigna in Dante’s Wood of Suicides is a noble man who, however, has lost touch with God.
Tag Archives: Depression
The Dark World of the Suicidal
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Primary Wonder", Dante, Denise Levertov, Inferno, political betrayal, suicide Comments closed
Students as Beowulf vs. Covid
Through describing their essays on “Beowulf,” I recount how five students are responding to the Covid crisis.
Lessons from Being Cold & Depressed
Thursday The polar vortex that is freezing America’s northern states gives me an excuse to rerun a post I wrote on Mary Oliver’s “Cold Poem.” If you want a silver lining for extreme cold, Oliver has one. Reprinted from January 8, 2014 Much of the United States is caught in extremely cold temperatures at the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Cold Poem", Care of the Soul, cold snap, Mary Oliver, polar vortex, Thomas Moore Comments closed
Burdened by Ice
Spiritual Sunday With much of the country groaning under the weight of winter storms, I share a Robert Hayden poem in which the speaker calls out to God in his misery. I warn you the poem does not conclude with a comforting—or a facile—promise. Sounding very much like George Herbert in his inability to pray, […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ice Storm", Birches, ice storms, Robert Frost, Robert Hayden, Winter Comments closed
God Loves As If There Were Only One
Martha Serpas’s “As If There Were Only One” sounds as though the speaker is emerging from a deep depression and learning to love again.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "As If There Were Only One", Healing, Martha Serpas Comments closed
Sorrow, Tears, Emptiness Are Necessary
Rob finds redemption in suffering and sorrow in “But for Love,” a good Lenten message.
Walking Down the Saddest City Lane
In which I read Robert Frost’s “I Have Been Acquainted with the Night” as an Advent poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I have been one acquainted with the night", Advent, Robert Frost Comments closed
Derealized or Appareled in Celestial Light?
Wordsworth arrived at the underlying idea of “Intimations of Immortality” from a childhood experience that sounds like what psychology now calls depersonalization-derealization disorder.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Depersonalization-derealization disorder, Intimations of Immortality, William Wordsworth Comments closed
Fall, Season for Beautiful Depression
Those suffering from depression will find a kindred spirit in this gorgeous St. Vincent Millay poem about autumn.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Blue Heron", "To Autumn", Autumn, bi-polar illness, Edna St. Vincent Millay, John Keats, Mary Oliver, Seasons Comments closed
