A very smart Covid poem circulating on social media at the moment references 11 poems, all about longing to travel.
Tag Archives: John Keats
Dreaming of Travel during Covid
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.
The Case for Memorizing Poetry
To bolster yourself against this age of anxiety, memorize robust poetry. Other poetry works as well.
Stately Pines, Cathedral Towers
Many American poets have found God in nature, including Longfellow. His “Cathedral Towers” compares pine trees to a church.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Fall, Season for Beautiful Depression
Those suffering from depression will find a kindred spirit in this gorgeous St. Vincent Millay poem about autumn.

