Memory and memorial
What lasts is not just what we make.
5
04, 2017
16
03, 2017
Modern tragedy: the fears of physical annihilation and the role of the writer
Modern tragedy: the fears of physical annihilation and the role of the writer Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. There are no longer problems of the spirit. There is only one question: When will I be blown up? Because of [...]
7
03, 2017
On silence
On silence. Why poets, and others, look for quietude – with lovers, friends, or by themselves – in lieu of words Doodle: Good morning, Noodle. You appear deep in thought. Noodle: Thanks for the interruption. I’m puzzled by a poem. As a professor of the humanities, I’ve read a lot of poetry, and should be [...]
1
01, 2017
Time and remembrance
Time and remembrance: recalling our place in the change of the year opens up new possibilities for us to commemorate the lives of others, to "preserve frail transitory fame," and also to acknowledge the source of what is lasting and eternal. To the Countess of Bedford, On New Year's Day THIS twilight of two years, not past, nor [...]
18
12, 2016
Solitude, inwardness, and demands of life
Solitude, inwardness, and demands of life: how listening to the inner self, the poetic voice, offers freedom from conventions of work and society. I don’t want you to be without a greeting from me when Christmas comes and when you, in the midst of the holiday, are bearing your solitude more heavily than usual. But [...]
13
11, 2016
Technology’s cost, humanity’s price
Technology's cost, humanity's price: whether we understand the ways technology asserts its influence even over our most basic self-understanding Modern science and the total state, as necessary consequences of the nature of technology, are also its attendants. The same holds true of the means and forms that are set up for the organization of public [...]
8
11, 2016
Platinum, poetry, and the past: using science to imagine the poet’s response to history
Platinum, poetry, and the past: using science to imagine the poet's response to history Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.... In the last article I tried to point out the importance of the relation of the poem to other poems by other authors, and suggested the conception [...]
6
11, 2016
Coco Chanel and the Art of Reading: Exhibit in Ca’ Pesaro, Venice
Coco Chanel and the Art of Reading: Exhibit in the Ca'Pesaro, Venice, through 8 January 2017. From the description: From Greek authors to modern poets, Gabrielle Chanel’s abundant library reveals the works that left an impression on her life and shaped her personality.... This dialogue through the ages, from antiquity to her contemporaries, is underlined in particular by [...]
1
11, 2016
On Politics and Poetry: a dialogue between a poet and a politician
On Politics and Poetry: a dialogue between a poet and a politician Politician: What’s going on, poet? Are you able to scrabble together a living? Poet: Rich enough, I suppose, though it’s hard to earn my bread. What about you: still hungry for attention? Politician: That’s rich, coming from you! I have the best interests of [...]
19
08, 2016
Forests of philosophy
Forests of philosophy: how our trail-blazing only leads to passing points of rest. No one like the path-finder himself feels the immensity of the forest, or knows the accidentality of his own trails. Columbus, dreaming of the ancient East, is stopped by poor pristine simple America, and gets no farther on that day; and the poets [...]