…Time’s wingéd chariot hurrying near… As I get older, it increasingly seems to me that the world divides itself into two kinds of people. There are those who look back and say, “I’ve had a good life and wouldn’t change … Continue reading →
They’re back. Or actually, they never left: As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race, I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place. Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall, … Continue reading →
Sign me up – not: Tourists are flocking to the Big Apple to check out its exploding rat population — and tour guides are tailoring excursions to introduce them to the city’s most beady-eyed natives. Kenny Bollwerk maps out late-night … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Today I was going to write about the usual political brouhaha, depressing though it is. But I found myself dragging my heels – not only because the news isn’t pleasant, but also because I had to deal with some … Continue reading →
In an earlier post today, commenter “PA Cat” writes this: Today marks the 84th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland that is usually considered the beginning of WWII. I went back to look at a poem by W.H. Auden … Continue reading →
William Blake was a unique poet and artist. I don’t think he fits into any category except “mystical visionary” and probably “some sort of genius.” Many people are aware of his poem
Continue reading →I’ll start out by saying that I think the five people in the submersible are dead, and that even days ago I thought they probably had been dead from the moment the vehicle stopped communicating with the mother ship about … Continue reading →
[NOTE: I decided not to be as politics-intensive as usual today.] I consider the poems of Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins to be among the greatest, and I’m going to highlight a single line from his poem entitled—well, the poem … Continue reading →
The Moody Blues were big in the late 60s. But for reasons I never could quite articulate, their music creeped me out at the time. It didn’t make sense that I disliked their songs, because they had many elements I … Continue reading →
In yesterday’s thread on a poll indicating a steep decline in patriotism in the US, commenter “charles” wrote: That is one thing that makes polls like this so disheartening; if more and more people believe that love of one’s country … Continue reading →
Today is Valentine’s Day and I’m feeling somewhat raw, for obvious reasons. And yet I’ve never been really big on Valentine’s Day celebrations. After all, for the last thirty years or so I haven’t been able to eat chocolate without … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is a repeat of a post originally published five years ago. Gerard had made the first comment on the original post, as you can see if you follow that link. “Many great dears are taken away…”] —John Updike: … Continue reading →