Thursday – First Day of Spring I’ll let Emily Dickinson usher in the new season with “A Light exists in Spring.” I like how the poet describes this time of year as elusive, a sentiment found in a number of other magnificent spring poems, including A. E. Housman’s “Loveliest of Trees” and Robert Frost’s “Nothing […]
Spiritual Sunday With much of the country groaning under the weight of winter storms, I share a Robert Hayden poem in which the speaker calls out to God in his misery. I warn you the poem does not conclude with a comforting—or a facile—promise. Sounding very much like George Herbert in his inability to pray, […]
Wednesday Checking the east coast’s weather report from Slovenia, I see that it has been blanketed by snow, closing a number of schools and workplaces. I therefore repost this essay on the joys of a snow day. Reprinted from Feb. 9, 2010 An unusually heavy snowstorm has locked us into our homes these past few […]
John Gatta’s “Spirits of Place” is helping me understand why I have chosen to retire in my home town. Wordsworth, Stowe, Homer, and Frost help out as well.
Stanley Kunitz writes a variation of Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” that beautifully captures Yom Kippur themes.
Poetry adds an extra dimension to sleeping outdoors.
I thought of Robert Frost’s poem “Out, Out” as tree trimmers took down a rotten tree by our house.
If you are a teacher swamped by end-of-term essays, Frost’s “Woodpile” has some good advice for you.
In which I read Robert Frost’s “I Have Been Acquainted with the Night” as an Advent poem.
