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.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter
Tag Archives: William Wordsworth
Childhood, Space of Terror & Enchantment
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Children's Realm", Childhood, Norman Finkelstein, wonder Comments closed
Welcome Class of 2020 (and Others)
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
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
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
Donne’s Lovers, Spooky at a Distance
Tuesday Adam Gopnik makes some nice literary allusions in a recent New Yorker essay-review of George Musser’s Spooky at a Distance, which is about the history of quantum entanglement theory. Entanglement, also known as non-locality and described by Einstein as “spooky at a distance,” claims that two particles of a single wave function can influence each other, even […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "Valediction: Forbidding Mourning", Albert Einstein, Anthony Trollope, entanglement, fantasy, John Donne, Lyrical Ballads, non-locality, Science, science fiction Comments closed
King Looks to Children for Hope
Despite the horrors he describes, Stephen King’s vision is ultimately a hopeful one. The key, as he sees it, is plugging into childhood hopes and imagination.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Childhood, Intimations of Immortality, It, Stephen King Comments closed
The Minstrels Played Their Christmas Tune
William Wordsworth celebrates Christmas was a poem about minstrels singing Christmas carols.