When utilitarian John Stuart Mill’s philosophy led him into despair, Wordsworth’s poetry saved him.
Tag Archives: Depression
Wordsworth and a Depressed Philosopher
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Mock on, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Englightenment, Giver, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Lois Lowry, Tintern Abbey, Ursula K. LeGuin, utilitarianism, William Blake, William Wordsworth Comments closed
Lincoln Transformed Depression thru Lit
Melancholy threatened to paralyze Abraham Lincoln in his early years. Literature helped him give voice to his depression and taught him how to turn it into an asset.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Dream", "Raven", Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allan Poe, First Inaugural Address, Macbeth, Manfred, unipolar disease, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Poetry: Sure Solacer of Human Cares
For those trapped in gloom, Emily Bronte reminds us that the Imagination is there to provide us with solace.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Emily Bronte, grieving, Imagination Comments closed
The Eternal Doesn’t Want To Be Bent by Us
Rilke draws on the story of Jacob and the Angel in his poem “The Man Watching.” We grow, he writes, by “being defeated, decisively, by constantly greater beings.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Man Watching", Bible, Genesis, Jacob and the angel, Rainer Maria Rilke Comments closed
The Violins of Autumn
I still remember memorizing, as a child in a French school, Paul Verlaine’s deliciously sad “Chanson d’automne.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Chanson d'automne", Aging, Autumn, Fall, Paul Verlaine, Seasons Comments closed
Poem for Coping with Depression
Mary Oliver’s “Poem for a Blue Heron” is a hopeful but realistic poem about coping with depression.
Finding Hope amidst the Growing Gloom
Hardy’s “Darkling Thrush” conjures up hope in dark times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Darkling Thrush", hope, pessimism, Thomas Hardy Comments closed
Oh! For a Closer Walk with God
William Cowper understands the depressed ache of emptiness, which intensifies his longing for the Holy Spirit.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Task", "Walking with God", Spirituality, William Cowper Comments closed
