Thomas Gray’s beautiful “Ode on the Spring” looks to the insect world for lessons on life.
Tag Archives: Thomas Gray
On Watching Spring Come In
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ode on the Spring", "Spring", Mary Oliver, Seasons Leave a comment
Art Takes Us into a Luminescent World
A visit to artist friends in Assisi revealed a luminescent world and brought to mind Thomas Gray’s “Elegy on a Country Churchyard.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alan Feltus, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Lani Irwin Comments closed
Affirmative Action & Lessons in Chemistry
Garmus’s “Lessons in Chemistry” indirectly exposes the ignorance of the Supreme Court striking down affirmative action.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Elegy on a Country Churchyard", affirmative action, Bonnie Garmus, Clarence Thomas, Feminism, Joy Reid, Lessons in Chemistry, Title IX Comments closed
For England, Buttercup > Melon Flower
“Oh to be in England now that April’s here”–and not in Italy, with its gaudy melon flowers!
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Auguries of Innocence", "Elegy on a Country Churchyard", "Flower in a Crannied Wall", "Home Thoughts from Abroad", Alfred Lord Tennyson, England, flowers, Intimations of Immortality, Robert Browning, William Blake, William Wordsworth Comments closed
Remembering School with Fondness
Carol Ann Duffy fondly remembers childhood school, although certain disturbances vaguely threaten the idyllic scene.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "In Mrs. Tilscher's Class", "Ode to a Distant Prospect of Eton College", beginning of school, Carol Ann Duffy, schooling Comments closed
Remembering a Favorite English Teacher
My favorite English teacher just died after years of Alzheimer’s. I share the epitaph from Gray’s “Country Churchyard,” which he introduced me to.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, English teachers, teaching Comments closed
How Dangerous Is a Little Learning?
Pope’s “a little learning” seems dangerous at first glance but the alternative is not entirely attractive.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College", Alexander Pope, colleges, Education, Essay on Criticism, Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde Comments closed
March Madness, A Return to Innocence
Sports Saturday March Madness begins this weekend. Actually, to be exact, it begins for the big schools. Division III colleges are in the final week of their tournament. I know because my college was one step away from making the final four. For the first time ever, St. Mary’s College of Maryland sent a team […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "King John's Christmas", "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College", A. A. Milne, Basketball, Childhood, Sports Comments closed
Doc Halladay No Longer Blushing Unseen
Sports Saturday The baseball postseason is off to an amazing start, what with Roy “Doc” Halladay pitching only the second no-hitter in playoff history to begin it. And it was his first game ever pitching in the postseason! The other no-hitter is enshrined in legend: Yankee Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Baseball, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Roy Halladay, Sports Comments closed
