In a powerful Advent poem, David Whyte compares waning faith with the waning moon. The poem reminds me of poems by John Keats and Lucille Clifton.
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Tag Archives: John Keats
The New Moon, A Prayer Opening to Faith
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Bright Star", "man who killed the bear", Advent, David Whyte, Faith, Lucille Clifton Comments closed
Not Your Father’s Apple Cider
A visit to my cousins’ hard apple cider processing plant showed me that making the beverage has changed markedly since the days of John Keats and Robert Frost.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ode to Autumn", After Apple-Picking, apples, farming, hard apple cider, Robert Frost Comments closed
She Stood in Tears amid the Alien Corn
The figure of the Biblical Ruth takes on new resonance when she makes an appearance in Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ode to a Nightingale", loneliness, Ruth, sadness Comments closed
Earth Day: Please Brake for Woolly Bears
Scott Bates’ Earth Day poem calls for protecting even caterpillars. After all, sometimes they grow up to be Keats’ tiger moths with their “deep damasked wings.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "B Brakes for Butterflies", butterflies, Earth Day, Environment, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Scott Bates, woolly bears Comments closed
Reading Lit through the Eyes of Others
Reading literature through the eyes of others brings special pleasures and insights.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged John Milton, May Swenson, Paradise Lost, reading, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Art Is the Path to Liberation
Nick Brown, a very bright philosophy and English double major, reflects on how to live a worthwhile life. An aesthetic approach to life is at the core of his argument.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ode on a Grecian Urn", Albert Camus, Art, As You Like It, Dogen, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, existentialism, Fear and Trembling, Karl Marx, liberation, Macbeth, Myth of Sisyphus, Soren Kierkegaard, Zen Buddhism Comments closed
Fantasy Provides Aid for Life’s Storms
As a child who grew up immersed in fantasy fiction, I knew, as deeply as I knew anything, that these books put me in touch with something that was deep and true. As I grew up, of course, I learned that I had to move beyond fantasy just as I had to move beyond childhood. […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Eve of St. Agnes, fantasy, Sigmund Freud, Tempest, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Using Lit to Predict the Weather
Last week, while discussing “The Tempest,” we experienced a literal tempest. Expect cold temperatures today as I’m teaching “Eve of St. Agnes.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Eve of St. Agnes, Golden Compass, Philip Pullman, Tempest, weather, William Shakespeare Comments closed