Tag Archives: John Keats

Dreaming of Travel during Covid

A very smart Covid poem circulating on social media at the moment references 11 poems, all about longing to travel.

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In “Crown,” Philip Gets Auden, Not Keats

“The Crown” makes productive use of poetry to move the action. In three Season #3 episodes, we encounter Kipling, Shakespeare, Keats & Auden.

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The Case for Memorizing Poetry

To bolster yourself against this age of anxiety, memorize robust poetry. Other poetry works as well.

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Stately Pines, Cathedral Towers

Many American poets have found God in nature, including Longfellow. His “Cathedral Towers” compares pine trees to a church.

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Ensnar’d with Flow’rs I Fall on Grass

Friday I found utterly dispiriting this past week’s Democratic debates in which candidates lasered in on tiny differences while a fire rages all around us. I haven’t wanted to relax my vigilance regarding Donald Trump since autocrats win when we become so worn down that we stop paying attention. Nevertheless, these two wretched debates made […]

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A Keats Poem for Class Reunions

Wednesday This past weekend I attended my 50th high school anniversary and relived life at Sewanee Military Academy from 1965-69. Some of my former classmates talked of these having been the happiest years of their lives, which brought to mind a poem I learned at SMA while practicing for the regional poetry competition. In some […]

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Does Lit Crit Make Lit Less Fun?

Friday My Ljubljana colleague Jason Blake alerted me to a Chronicle of Higher Education article that wrestles with the question of whether studying literature should be fun. It’s a fairly confused piece, with Baruch College’s Timothy Aubry conflating a number of issues better treated separately. Nevertheless, it’s worth a response because Aubry addresses questions that non-academics […]

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Nature Lit Has Healed for Centuries

For years my Intro to Lit class has had a nature theme.

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Fall, Season for Beautiful Depression

Those suffering from depression will find a kindred spirit in this gorgeous St. Vincent Millay poem about autumn.

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