A very smart Covid poem circulating on social media at the moment references 11 poems, all about longing to travel.
Tag Archives: Rudyard Kipling
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.
Memo to Teachers: Put Lives on Line
Trumpian disrespect for school personnel–no special emphasis on safe reopening–brings to mind Kipling’s “Tommy.”
Our Embattled Health Care Workers
In Kaye’s “Far Pavilions,” the hero sees the British botching an expedition but joins them anyway. This is how I see our healthcare workers.
Giuliani, a Kiplingesque Fortune Hunter
Rudy Giuliani resembles the fortune hunters in Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King.”
What Drives You to Go Forth?
Spiritual Sunday The prodigal son is one of Jesus’s most challenging parables. I once read about a rightwing Christian arguing that Jesus had it all wrong since the story’s outcome violated her views about who deserves to be helped, whether by God or the government. Writers have had their own interesting takes. Andre Gide, tormented […]
Poems for Resisting Trump
New York columnist Roger Cohen suggests two poems for resisting Trumpism: “if” and “Harlem.”
The Soldier Knew Someone Had Blundered
Donald Trump is refusing to take responsibility for the failed Yemen raid where a Navy Seal was killed, along with 30 civilians. The raid brings to mind the “Charge of the Light Brigade,” although more appropriate might be the Rudyard Kipling sequel, where the poet blasted England for failing to take care of the survivors.

