John Heath-Stubbs’s “On the Nativity” is one of my favorite Christmas poems.
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Tag Archives: William Blake
A Star Has Fallen, to Blossom from a Tomb
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Jerusalem", "On the Nativity", Christmas, John Heath-Stubbs Comments closed
Lit that Championed Chimney Sweeps
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
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
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?
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 […]
Imagining Little Ocean’s Future
Looking for the literary significance of my latest grandchild, I turn to Walcott, Whitman, Masefield, Coleridge, and Byron. What emerges is a mystical seeker.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking", "Sea Fever", "Tales of the Islands", baby names, Derek Walcott, J. D. Salinger, John Masefield, John Milton, Laurence Sterne, Lord Byron, Lucille Clifton, Paradise Lost, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, To Esme with Love and Squalor, Tristram Shandy, Walt Whitman Comments closed
Welcome Stranger to This Place
The story of Jesus healing an unclean gentile reminds us all to welcome the stranger. Blake shows us the heaven that awaits when we do.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Welcome Stranger to This Place", asylum speakers, Donald Trump, immigrants Comments closed
When School Drives All Joy Away
School has already begun in some states, bringing to mind Blake’s lament about school in summer.
Blake on Trump’s Breast-Feeding Attack
With yet another Trumpian attack on poor children, I turn once again to William Blake.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Infant Sorrow", "Poems Done on a Late Night Car", breastfeeding, Carl Sandburg, Donald Trump, infant formula Comments closed