If the groundhog sees its shadow today, will it fall into existential despair?–which is Eliot’s response to shadows in “The Waste Land.”
Tag Archives: Winter
T.S. Eliot Meets Groundhog Day
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Hollow Men", Bill Murray, existential despair, Groundhog Day, T. S. Eliot, Waste Land Comments closed
Oliver on the Cruel Beauty of Cold
In “Cold Poem,” Mary Oliver finds a positive life message in bitter cold conditions.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Cold Poem", Extreme cold, extreme weather events, Mary Oliver Comments closed
Peeped Most Piteously for Pain of the Cold
With our first snowfall, birds are swarming our feeders, bringing to mind a passage from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and an Oliver Herford lyric.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I Heard a Bird Sing", Birds, December, Oliver Herford, Pearl Poet, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain poet Comments closed
Burdened by Ice
Spiritual Sunday With much of the country groaning under the weight of winter storms, I share a Robert Hayden poem in which the speaker calls out to God in his misery. I warn you the poem does not conclude with a comforting—or a facile—promise. Sounding very much like George Herbert in his inability to pray, […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ice Storm", Birches, Depression, ice storms, Robert Frost, Robert Hayden Comments closed
Snow Days Open Cracks in Time
Wednesday Checking the east coast’s weather report from Slovenia, I see that it has been blanketed by snow, closing a number of schools and workplaces. I therefore repost this essay on the joys of a snow day. Reprinted from Feb. 9, 2010 An unusually heavy snowstorm has locked us into our homes these past few […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Stopping by Woods on a Winter Evening", Robert Frost, snow, snow day Comments closed
How to Celebrate a Winter Storm
Here’s a January poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti that will cheer you up if you’re being currently battered.
Blizzard Jonas: How the Wind Doth Ramm!
In “Ancient Music” Ezra Pound voices what all those who were hit hard by the weekend’s Jonas Blizzard were thinking–and often saying.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ancient Music", Ezra Pound, Jonas Blizzard, snow Comments closed
From the Dark, Cold Grime a Flower Comes
Mary Ann Bernard shows spring coming only with difficulty–but being all the more meaningful because of that.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Spring", Lent, Mary Ann Bernard, Resurrection, Spirituality Comments closed
Poem for Coping with Depression
Mary Oliver’s “Poem for a Blue Heron” is a hopeful but realistic poem about coping with depression.
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