The NFL draft perfectly exemplifies Alexander Pope’s passage about hope.
Tim O’Brien describes a character for whom facts are formed by sensation. Sounds like today’s right wing.
Alexander Pope understood that justice is best served on a full stomach.
A number of poets have written poems about the apocalypse. But it’s always figurative, never literal.
Also posted in Arnold (Matthew), Shelley (Percy), Woolf (Virginia) | Tagged "Hellas", "Second Coming", "Stanzas from the Grand Chartreuse", Alexander Pope, Apocalyptic literature, Between the Acts, Dunciad, Matthew Arnold, Mayan Apocalypse, Virginia Woolf, William Butler Yeats |
Obama, taking a cue from Kipling and maybe Edward Rowland Sill, bounced back in Tuesday’s debate.
In the immortal words of Muhammad Ali, Roger Federer floated like a butterfly, stung like a bee as he won his 7th Wimbledon title yesterday.
Also posted in Ali (Muhammad), Shakespeare (William), Tolkien (J.R.R.) | Tagged Alexander Pope, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Muhammad Ali, Rape of the Lock, Roger Federer, Sports, Tempest, tennis, William Shakespeare, Wimbledon |
A. S. Byatt points to the renewal symbolism that Britain found in the the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 60 years ago.
The high school incident where Romney forcibly cut a classmate’s hair is less “Lord of the Flies” and more “Rape of the Lock.”
In “Northanger Abbey,” Jane Austen advocates the ideal way to raise one’s kids: encourage them to read good literature and they will learn the life lessons that they need.
Also posted in Austen (Jane), Carroll (Lewis), Gay (John), Gray (Thomas), Shakespeare (William), Thompson (James) | Tagged "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady", Alexander Pope, Alice in Wonderland, James Thompson, Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, Measure for Measure, Northanger Abbey, Othello, Reading to children, Seasons, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare |
Yesterday I talked about irresponsible political commentators and politicians and how they reminded me of the scribblers that John Dryden was worried about in the 1680’s. In the 1740’s Alexander Pope was even more pessimistic about the threat they posed. In The Dunciad he imagines an inevitable cultural slide until “universal darkness buries all.” Harold [...]
The incomparable Xavi Sports Saturday Spanish sports is having a great year. First of all, Spanish forward Pau Gasol was a major reason why the Los Angeles Lakers won their 16th championship in an archetypal series against the Boston Celtics. Then we were officially ushered from the Age of Federer into the Age of Nadal [...]
