Tag Archives: Jonathan Swift

A Swift Birthday Poem for Julia

In which I use one of Swift’s birthday poems to celebrate my Julia’s birthday.

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Poet Hart Crane on Forgetting

Crane’s poem “Forgetfulness” captures the ambiguity of this mental state.

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Lit Heals By Keeping Us Off Balance

Different literary techniques have been used over the centuries to keep us on our toes.

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Swift Understood Trumpian Fascism

Trump’s use of “vermin” to characterize his enemies is fascist talk. “Gulliver’s Travels” shows where such talk can lead.

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When News Resembles an Onion Headline

A recent case of an American man arrested for parodying a police department elicited a supportive brief from “The Onion.”

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O’Connor and Swift on the Death of Others

Friday While losing my mother at 96 is definitely not like Julian losing his mother in Flannery O’Connor’s “All That Rises Must Converge,” I can relate somewhat to his feelings of being adrift once she is gone. In his case, he is entirely dependent upon her, and embarrassed by her, and resentful of his inability […]

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Swift on How to Ignore 115,000 Deaths

Trump and others appear to be shrugging off the 115,000 (and counting) Covid-19 deaths in America. Gulliver in Book IV shows similar insensitivity.

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Trump’s Modest Proposal

It may be April Fools’ Day, but there are Republicans who are advocating a version of Jonathan Swift’s “Modest Proposal.” For real.

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It’s a Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

For those of us living in the lull before the COVID-19 storm, Swift’s “Description of a City Shower” captures what we’re experiencing–and about to experience.

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