Tag Archives: John Donne

Advent as a Final Notification

Rich’s “Final Notification” can be read as an Advent poem, a resistance to and then final surrender to God’s will.

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When the Light Knocks on the Door

Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem “truth” dramatizes the conflict between disturbing hope and familiar darkness. Think of it as an Advent poem.

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Orientalizing the Other

In my postcolonial lit course, I applied Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism to Haggard’s “She” and Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” It’s not pretty.

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He Took Us with Him to the Heart of Things

Poet’s writing about the Ascension often focus on our tangled lives.

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Oppenheimer and Metaphysical Poetry

In which I explore why Robert Oppenheimer was drawn to 17th century metaphysical poetry.

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Pullman and Dante on the Afterlife

Pullman, drawing on Dante, provides one of the most sustaining accounts of the afterlife that I know.

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Behold, He Lightens the Dark Clouds

In Donne’s “Ascension,” Jesus transforms from strong ram to mild lamb to guide the poet to God.

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Donne: Better to be Woke Than Asleep

In “Good Morrow,” Donne delivers a timely message that it’s good to be woke.

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What a Death to See God Die

Donne’s poem about Good Friday uses astronomical metaphors as he asks God to open his heart.

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