Category Archives: Writing by others
A. E. Housman’s Minimalist Poetry
A.E. Housman was a minimalist poet, whose spartan lines are matched by only the best Haiku writers. He bitterly and wryly welcomed death, romanticizing its inevitability. He was extremely popular during the First World War and his poems reflected the … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Thoughts on writing, Uncategorized, Writing by others
Tagged A.E. Housman, Housman, Poetry, World War I
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Progress Report on My Book
With eleven months to go before my deadline of August 1, 2019, I’ve written approximately 28,000 words. My contract calls for a total of 50,000 to 60,000 words so I feel good about my progress. Ideally, I’d like to submit … Continue reading
How Bullying Structures Society
For anyone who suffered through school at the hands of bullies and a system that ignored or encouraged them, George Orwell’s writing rings true: By the social standards that prevailed about me, I was no good, and could not be … Continue reading
The Peroration Was Magnificent, Though Difficult to Remember
He looked into his heart and saw that it was black. Perhaps that’s all we need to know about Heart of Darkness. But there is so much more. Ideas and thoughts first judged rambling come back as well structured sentences … Continue reading
Eliot Never Too Common to Quote
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 analyzed. … Continue reading
Posted in art, Poetry, Thoughts on writing, Uncategorized, Writing by others
Tagged Conrad, dryness, Heart of Darkness, Poetry, T.S. Eliot, the desert, The Hollow Men
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Oh! I Have Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth
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
Posted in Poetry, Thoughts on writing, Uncategorized, Writing by others
Tagged High flight, John Gillespie Magee, Jr, television sign offs
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And No Birds Sing
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
