A white tomb overlooks the sea on a mountain in Samoa. It is the final resting place of one the natives called “Tusitala,” the Teller of Tales. Dead men tell no tales, and so it is for this man who told of pirates, knights, and swashbucklers: Robert Louis Stevenson. But his tales live on, despite…
What Good Is Poetry? Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Requiem’: A Kind of Homecoming
Oval Office Authors: Presidents, Pens, and Paper
June 8, 2021
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Abraham LincolnArts & CultureLife & TraditionLiteraturepresidentsTheodore RooseveltThomas JeffersonUlysses Grantwriting
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Many of our modern presidents have written books. When running for office, they frequently publish political manifestos outlining their vision for America or autobiographies describing obstacles they’ve overcome to reach to the top. On leaving office, they reverse this process and write of their days in the White House, the crises they faced, the grace…
Oval Office Authors: Presidents, Pens, and Paper
June 8, 2021
admin
Abraham LincolnArts & CultureLife & TraditionLiteraturepresidentsTheodore RooseveltThomas JeffersonUlysses Grantwriting
0 Comment
Many of our modern presidents have written books. When running for office, they frequently publish political manifestos outlining their vision for America or autobiographies describing obstacles they’ve overcome to reach to the top. On leaving office, they reverse this process and write of their days in the White House, the crises they faced, the grace…
What’s Writing Classical Poetry All About?
Very recently, I hosted a live online poetry event for New York’s The Society of Classical Poets (SCP). I introduced six American poets, of whom two were naturalized Americans, one originally from Russia and the other from England. In introducing them and their excellent work, I attempted to say a little about “classical” poetry in general,…
What Good Is Poetry? Wordsworth’s ‘The Rainbow’
My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound…
Book Review: ‘The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today’
According to ListChallenges, for the last 50 years the Bible has been the most read book in the world. The religious see the Bible as a gift from God to better themselves spiritually; the historically minded see this book as a way to explore ancient culture. Still others are drawn to the Bible for its…
To Read, or Not to Read
The quality of reading is closely connected to the quality of the thing read—both the written material and the object that presents the writing. In other words, there is an element brought to the reading experience as a whole by a good volume, with fair print, crisp pages, and a sturdy cover. But the book,…
Dante Alighieri: All About Love
When the Beatles crooned “Love is all you need” in 1967, they coined an anthem for the flower power age, but when Dante Alighieri composed “The Love that moves the sun and the other stars,” he created the theme song of the Renaissance and beyond. Worldwide celebrations are underway for the 700th anniversary of Dante…
‘With Rue My Heart Is Laden’: The Poetry of A.E. Housman
When I left graduate school long ago without earning my doctorate, one of my first thoughts was “Now I’ll be able to read whatever I want.” And I set out to do just that. Throughout my 20s, in my pre-children days, I followed my heart and desire in pursuit of literature. For hours every day,…
Three Cheers for the Maker of the Modern Essay: Michel de Montaigne
I am a lover of essays. Every morning, shortly after dawn, I sit at my laptop, coffee at hand, and explore the internet looking for pieces to read for enjoyment or as a kickoff for an article of my own. On my bookshelves are scores of novels, once also a favorite genre, but over the…
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