Tag Archives: William Blake

A Star Has Fallen, to Blossom from a Tomb

By Robin Bates | Published: December 24, 2020

John Heath-Stubbs’s “On the Nativity” is one of my favorite Christmas poems.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Jerusalem", "On the Nativity", Christmas, John Heath-Stubbs | Comments closed

Lit that Championed Chimney Sweeps

By Robin Bates | Published: December 26, 2019

Watching modern chimney sweeps at work, I’m relieved that we’ve left behind the days of William Blake and Charles Dickens.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Chimney-Sweeper", Charles Dickens, chimney cleaning, chimney sweeps, Oliver Twist | Comments closed

Reluctance to Go to School

By Robin Bates | Published: August 16, 2019

Friday School has already opened in some states (Tennessee) and has yet to open in others (Maryland) so I’ve split the difference by choosing today to honor the occasion. Jonathan Swift’s mention of a laggard schoolbody in “A Description of the Morning” has always fascinated me. “Description of the Morning” gives an account of the […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Description of a City Morning", Jonathan Swift, schooling | Comments closed

Children’s Choirs, Vienna’s and Blake’s

By Robin Bates | Published: March 5, 2019

Wednesday Last Friday I was able to see in person the Vienna Children’s choir, which previously I knew only from their recordings. As I listened to the high, pure voices in Sewanee’s cathedral-like All Saints Chapel, I thought of William Blake’s “Holy Thursday” from Songs of Innocence. The poem has some of Blake’s characteristic irony, […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Holy Thursday", Songs of Innocence and Experience, Vienna Boys Choir | Comments closed

What Is Eating Away at America?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 16, 2019

Wednesday What does it mean to have a Russian asset as president, if the FBI’s suspicions (as reported by the New York Times) turn out to be correct. Perhaps William Blake’s poem “The Sick Rose” captures the situation. In that instance, the Rose would be the American republic, which is sick despite its high ideals […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald Trump, Trump as Russian asset | Comments closed

Imagining Little Ocean’s Future

By Robin Bates | Published: October 22, 2018

Looking for the literary significance of my latest grandchild, I turn to Walcott, Whitman, Masefield, Coleridge, and Byron. What emerges is a mystical seeker.