Tag Archives: William Wordsworth

Visit Puerto Rico with Wings of Healing

By Robin Bates | Published: October 8, 2017

Read through hurricane-weary eyes, Coleridge’s “Dejection: An Ode” promises soulful hope.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Dejection: An Ode", Hurricane Maria, hurricanes, Intimations of Immortality, Puerto Rico, Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Comments closed

Wordsworth and a Depressed Philosopher

By Robin Bates | Published: October 5, 2017

When utilitarian John Stuart Mill’s philosophy led him into despair, Wordsworth’s poetry saved him.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Mock on, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Depression, Englightenment, Giver, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Lois Lowry, Tintern Abbey, Ursula K. LeGuin, utilitarianism, William Blake | Comments closed

Dissolving into the Glories of the Sun

By Robin Bates | Published: September 24, 2017

Andrew Marvell’s “On a Drop of Dew” compares the soul’s visit to the earth realm to a dew drop. In the process, he references the manna in the wilderness, today’s Old Testament reading.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged ", "On a Drop of Dew", "Waterfall", Andrew Marvell, Henry Vaughan, Intimations of Immortality, manna in the wilderness, Transcendence | Comments closed

Transfiguration: I Saw a Tree inside a Tree

By Robin Bates | Published: August 6, 2017

Here’s a Christian Wiman poem for Transfiguration Poem that gets at those moments when the veil is momentarily lifted and we see into the life of things.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged " Transfiguration, "From a Window", Christian Wiman, Tintern Abbey | Comments closed

Reconnecting with My Dead Son

By Robin Bates | Published: October 19, 2016

Thursday I had a shock of recognition while teaching Stephen King’s IT in my American Fantasy class yesterday. The approach to life that saves the day for the protagonist is the approach that got my eldest son killed 16 years ago. Yet I don’t think King is wrong. In fact, I was comforted once I saw the […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "We Are Seven", Bicycling, death and dying, Intimations of Immortality, It, Stephen King, Tintern Abbey | Comments closed

Childhood, Space of Terror & Enchantment

By Robin Bates | Published: October 3, 2016

Norman Finkelstein’s wondrous poem “Children’s Realm” (in “The Ratio of Reason to Magic”) examines child’s play spaces and says that the poet also needs play spaces within.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Children's Realm", Childhood, Norman Finkelstein, wonder | Comments closed

Welcome Class of 2020 (and Others)

By Robin Bates | Published: August 25, 2016

A letter to incoming college students, with a tip of the hat to Montaigne, Williams Wordsworth, and Lucille Clifton.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Tintern Abbey" entering students, academe, College, Liberal arts education, Lucille Clifton, Michel de Montaigne | Comments closed

Novels with Waterfalls and Secret Caves

By Robin Bates | Published: August 10, 2016

When I was growing up, the adventure books that I read influenced how I regarded and interacted with nature.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Tables Turned", caves, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lucy Fitch Perkins, Nature, Rob Roy, Scotch Twins, Sir Water Scott, Two Towers | Comments closed

The Mental Benefits of Forest Walking

By Robin Bates | Published: July 21, 2016

Recent brain research notes that walking amongst trees is a powerful antidote to depression. Wordsworth knew this long ago.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Lyrical Ballads, Tintern Abbey, Walking, walking in nature | Comments closed