Category Archives: Poetry

Eliot Never Too Common to Quote

Posted on August 21, 2018 by

Now that I live in the desert, The Hollow Men resonates with me more and more. Eliot was of course writing about a dryness of spirit. Still, connections hold. This vital poem by Thomas Stearns Eliot is widely quoted and … Continue reading →

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Oh! I Have Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth

Posted on August 17, 2018 by

This film and poem was often used by television stations in the 1960s before signing off for the evening. It was written in 1941 by 19-year-old Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Jr, three months before he was killed in World … Continue reading →

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And No Birds Sing

Posted on August 7, 2018 by

Does some writing remind you of others? To me, these three seem linked. La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad by John Keats O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has withered from the lake, And … Continue reading →

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Some Shape of Beauty Moves Away The Pall

Posted on August 7, 2018 by

A poorly worded ad caught my attention. See below. It meant to capture Keats but he is not easily seized. Yesterday’s post by Shelley was from 1820. This excerpt is from 1818. I understand they were not friends. “A thing … Continue reading →

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The Cloud By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Posted on August 5, 2018 by

Unnoticed, my last post was my 500th. I meant to celebrate that event with poetry. Better late than never. A cenotaph, by the way, is a tomb honoring a person or persons whose remains lie elsewhere. There is a wonderful … Continue reading →

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What Will God Do When You Die?

Posted on June 13, 2018 by

Ranier Maria Rilke (internal link) was not the first to suggest that perhaps God depends on us as much as we on him, but Rilke was certainly the most gifted when it came to conveying that thought. What will you … Continue reading →

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May The Road Rise With You

Posted on June 8, 2018 by

The first line is endlessly argued over its exact translation from the Gaelic, never-the-less, this poem sounds across different languages and strikes at the soul. May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your … Continue reading →

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