Tag Archives: Andrew Marvell

When Bicycling, Marvels Coast By

Two weeks of cycling in Madison have brought me to this William Stafford poem.

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I Am Lazarus, Come Back from the Dead

Eliot makes devastating use of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

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Poems about Charles I and II

With the ascension of Charles III to the throne, I look back at poems that mention the two previous Charleses.

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Young People and Covid Spread

Dr. Birx has blamed the Covid-19 explosion in part on irresponsible young people. Reading the carpe diem poets would have helped her understand them better.

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Ensnar’d with Flow’rs I Fall on Grass

Friday I found utterly dispiriting this past week’s Democratic debates in which candidates lasered in on tiny differences while a fire rages all around us. I haven’t wanted to relax my vigilance regarding Donald Trump since autocrats win when we become so worn down that we stop paying attention. Nevertheless, these two wretched debates made […]

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Celebrating the Sun

Friday – Summer Solstice Cultures and civilizations since time immemorial have celebrated the summer solstice, with many magnificent works of architecture (including Stonehenge, the Temple of the Sun at Machu Picchu, the Egyptian pyramids, the Mayans’ Chichen Itza, and Scotland’s Ring of Brodgar) constructed so as to mark the date. Spiritual author Starhawk discusses the […]

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Dissolving into the Glories of the Sun

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.

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Helms’s Attack on Marvell’s “Coy Mistress”

Tales of unexpected attacks against great literature: in 1966 Jesse Helms, later a rightwing North Carolina senator, attacked Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” for providing male students a chance to talk about erotic matter in front of female students.

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10 Memorable Poetic Pick-Up Lines

10 memorable pick-up lines from poetic greats. Try them at a bar near you.

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