Amanda Root as Anne Elliott Film Friday One must show a great deal of sensitivity in how one films a Jane Austen heroine accepting a marriage proposal. That’s because the author never shows us the acceptances directly. Although I am generally not a great fan of filmed versions of Jane Austen novels, I have to […]
Tag Archives: love
Gripped by a Tyrannical Love
Since I am vacationing in Maine and spent time yesterday with my favorite cousin, who is a huge Edward Arlington Robinson fan, I devote a post to the state’s greatest poet. Whenever I visit Dan Bates in Gardiner, we have to visit Robinson’s grave and look at his house. My favorite Robinson poem is “Eros […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Abuse, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Eros Turannos, Marriage, Relationships Comments closed
June Weddings, Elizabethan Style
Francois Boucher, mid 18th-century As June is the month for weddings (Julia and I were married June 8), I will be looking at a wedding poem and a wedding play this week: Edmund Spenser’s gorgeous Epithalamion and Shakespeare’s magical Midsummer Night’s Dream. Writing about his own upcoming wedding, Spenser is so exuberant that he could […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Edmund Spenser, Epithalamion, Marriage, Weddings Comments closed
Freeing Oneself from Past Trauma
Soledad Villamil (Irene), Ricardo Darin (Esposito) Film Friday Warning: The following essay contains spoilers. Today I sing the praises of The Secret in Their Eyes, the Juan Jose Campanella film from Argentina that won the 2009 Foreign Film Oscar. It is more than a gripping film about investigating a murder, although it is also that. […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Film, Juan Jose Campanella, Mystery, politics, Secrets in Their Eyes Comments closed
After 37 Years, Still 2 Lights above the Sea
You will not be surprised to hear that poetry played a big role in my wedding 37 years ago, on June 8, 1973. The outdoor wedding occurred shortly after Carleton’s Commencement ceremony (our good friends John Colman and Anne Smith got married shortly before). Three days earlier, after an intense week finishing up my final essays, […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ars Poetica", "On Marriage", Archibald MacLeish, Kahlil Gibran, Marriage Comments closed
A Poem for Those that Feel Unloveable
I can think of no better poet to move us into Holy Week than George Herbert, a 17th century Anglican rector who wrestled mightily with a sense of his unworthiness. In his poetry, Herbert is determined to be as honest about his doubts as possible. He is not a facile Christian. When he believes that […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Love (3)", Christianity, George Herbert, Religion, Self esteem Comments closed
Earth, Love, Birches, and Ice Storms
I promised this post on Robert Frost’s “Birches” in the event that we have an ice storm. I don’t know yet whether we will have one, but we had frozen rain for much of the night, and as I write this (Wednesday morning) we are being attacked by a blizzard. So if I don’t arrange […]
Austen’s Good Enough Match
First of all, a happy birthday to Jane Austen (thanks to my mother for pointing this out). Jane would have been 234 today. My students have been bothered by the Marianne-Brandon marriage that concludes Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, and I’m inclined to agree with them. Kat Vander Wende reasonably pointed out that the sought-after […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "The River Merchant's Wife", Ezra Pound, Jane Austen, Marriage, Sense and Sensibility Comments closed
One Kiss, My Bonnie Sweetheart
When my wife and I leave the house in the morning, I will sometimes call out to her, “One kiss, my bonnie sweetheart” and we will embrace before going our separate ways. I suspect you recognize the line, which is from one of the English language’s most beloved poems, Alfred Noyes’s “The Highwayman.” I write […]
