Thoughts for Shabbat: Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones
Ezekiel, chapter 38: 1The hand of the Lord came upon me. He took me out by the spirit of the … Continue Reading Thoughts for Shabbat: Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones
Reading 3 new poems: The Harvest of 1665, The Historian, Mr Cassian’s 54th Dream
Edgar Lee Masters’s poem, “Minerva Jones”
Here is quite simply one of the best poems of the twentieth century: it is a diamond thunderbolt straight to … Continue Reading Edgar Lee Masters’s poem, “Minerva Jones”
An Introduction to Fintan of Clonenagh (Irish)
FINTAN OF CLONENAGH (d. 603), abbot. Born in Leinster and educated by St. Colum of Terryglass, he founded Clonenagh which … Continue Reading An Introduction to Fintan of Clonenagh (Irish)
The Great Myths #68: The Dark Home of Night & Death (Greek)
Read the other Great Myths here Here, in order, are the ends and springs Of gloomy earth and misty Tartarus, … Continue Reading The Great Myths #68: The Dark Home of Night & Death (Greek)
An Introduction to Hathor (Egyptian)
from George Hart’s Dictionary of Egyptian Gods & Goddesses, 2nd ed., 61-65 HATHOR: Universal cow-goddess, symbolic mother of the pharaoh. … Continue Reading An Introduction to Hathor (Egyptian)
The Great Myths #62: Loki is Captured & Punished (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Then spoke Gangleri: “It was quite an achievement of Loki’s when he brought it … Continue Reading The Great Myths #62: Loki is Captured & Punished (Norse)
The Great Myths #59: Odin Talks About Valhalla (Norse)
Read the other Great Myths here Then spoke Gangleri: “You say that all those men that have fallen in battle … Continue Reading The Great Myths #59: Odin Talks About Valhalla (Norse)
Laurie Sheck, “Pompeii”
Laurie Sheck, “Pompeii” Covered with lapilli we crouch preserved as we were on that first day The last one of … Continue Reading Laurie Sheck, “Pompeii”
Seamus Heaney’s “Beowulf”
From the end of Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, here is an immense mourning for a person and a civilization, … Continue Reading Seamus Heaney’s “Beowulf”
Robinson Jeffers, “Vulture”
Robinson Jeffers, “Vulture” I had walked since dawn and lay down to rest on a bare hillside Above the ocean. … Continue Reading Robinson Jeffers, “Vulture”
20th Century Poetry #20: Edgar Lee Masters
Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) One way to understand where poetry is now is to see where it was a hundred … Continue Reading 20th Century Poetry #20: Edgar Lee Masters
Walt Whitman’s Letter to Parents Whose Son Died in the Civil War
Washington August 10 1863 Mr and Mrs Haskell, Dear friends, I thought it would be soothing to you to have … Continue Reading Walt Whitman’s Letter to Parents Whose Son Died in the Civil War
Will the Real Psalm 23 Please Stand Up?
Probably the most lucid example of how religions both change drastically, and yet remain meaningful, is right here in James … Continue Reading Will the Real Psalm 23 Please Stand Up?
Death in Ancient Egypt
Here, Erik Hornung refutes the old cliché that ancient Egyptian religion was “death obsessed,” or that constructions like the pyramids … Continue Reading Death in Ancient Egypt
5 Elegies by Seamus Heaney
from “Clearances” When all the others were away at Mass I was all hers as we peeled potatoes. They broke … Continue Reading 5 Elegies by Seamus Heaney
Memento Mori
We Were All Animals Once: The Beginning of Anthropomorphic Thinking
from Steven Mithen’s The Prehistory of the Mind: This propensity to think of the natural world in social terms is … Continue Reading We Were All Animals Once: The Beginning of Anthropomorphic Thinking
On Beethoven’s Deathbed
Here are two passages from Beethoven’s life. The first finds him on his deathbed, and is recorded in the memoirs … Continue Reading On Beethoven’s Deathbed
Walt Whitman, “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim”
Walt Whitman, early 1863, looking on the Civil War dead: A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim … Continue Reading Walt Whitman, “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim”
The Great Myths #6: Enkidu in the Underworld (Mesopotamian)
[Amid the long illness that leads to Enkidu’s death:] As for Enkidu, his mind was troubled, he lay on his … Continue Reading The Great Myths #6: Enkidu in the Underworld (Mesopotamian)
