Tag Archives: William Wordsworth

A Wordsworth Thanksgiving Poem

By Robin Bates | Published: November 22, 2023

In which I read Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” as a Thanksgiving poem.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Dorothy Wordsworth, Nature, Thanksgiving, Tintern Abbey, Wye River | Comments closed

Preserved in God’s Golden Sap

By Robin Bates | Published: October 28, 2023

In Karr’s spiritual vision, we are like precious insects, preserved in the glowing amber of God’s love.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Meditatio", Intimations of Immortality, Mary Karr, Meditation | Comments closed

Finding God in Silence

By Robin Bates | Published: September 23, 2023

Poet Jennifer Michael gave a talk on finding God through poetry, featuring Berry, Hirshfield, Oliver, and others.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Door", "I Go among the Trees", "Praying", "Silence", "Sometimes", "Whatever is Foreseen in Joy", Asphodel, Asphodel That Greeny Flower, Genesis, Jane Hirshfield, Jennifer Michael, Mary Oliver, Meditation, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wendell Berry, William Carlos Williams | Comments closed

God Reaches Us through Art

By Robin Bates | Published: September 2, 2023

I share a talk about the relationship between God and creativity. Authors mentioned: Shelley, Homer, Plato, Silko, Walker, Clifton.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Ode to the West Wind", "the light that came to lucille clifton", Alice Walker, Artist's Way, Ceremony, Color Purple, Creativity, Homer, Intimations of Immortality, Ion, John Milton, Julia Cameron, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucille Clifton, Paradise Lost, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Plato, poetic muse, Republic | Comments closed

For England, Buttercup > Melon Flower

By Robin Bates | Published: April 10, 2023

“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, Thomas Gray, William Blake | Comments closed

All Our Seeing Rinsed and Cleansed

By Robin Bates | Published: February 18, 2023

In “Transfiguration,” poet Edwin Muir discussed what it means to have our sight rinsed and cleansed.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Tintern Abbey", "Transfiguration", Edwin Muir, Transfiguration | Comments closed

Awed by the Alps

By Robin Bates | Published: November 22, 2022

Visiting the Slovenian Alps got me thinking of Wordsworth approaching the mountain range further west. Our experience was less foreboding.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Shell", James Stephens, Prelude, Slovenian Alps | Comments closed

Wanted: Poets to Fight Climate Change

By Robin Bates | Published: December 29, 2021

To understand role poets can play in fighting climate change, go back to the Romantics and especially “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Barbara Kingsolver, climate change, extreme weather events, Margaret Atwood, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wendell Berry, William Blake | Comments closed

On Revisiting Intense Experiences

By Robin Bates | Published: November 4, 2021

Returning to my alma mater reminds me of Wordsworth returning to the Wye River in “Tintern Abbey.” That he shares the experience with his sister makes it even more relevant.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Tortoise Shout", college reunions, D. H. Lawrence, Overstory, Richard Powers, Tintern Abbey | Comments closed