Throughout history, the attempt of one person to convince another person to sleep with them is a theme that has never ceased to amuse and offend and in classic British literature, the form is called the Carpe Diem poem: the seize the d poem... seize the day... obviously. Both John Donne’s “The Flea” and Sir... Continue Reading →
“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more” ⁂ classics
There's something deliciously intoxicating about the Renaissance and the writers there who tell in such beautiful stories and songs of love... Shakespeare is probably one of if not the best known of the poets of love and tragedy. I feel as though he was the original master of the rom-com and one of those masterpieces... Continue Reading →
“Who Ever Loved That Loved Not at First Sight?” ⁂ classics
I love this piece by Marlowe, although it is not a stand alone piece, as all the others in this Classics series thus far have been; it's an excerpt from one of his plays, Hero and Leander. What I love about this piece is the youthful hope, that for most of us has been destroyed,... Continue Reading →
“Loss and Gain” ⁂ classics
As a poet and as a human being, Longfellow was rather a shining example of insight, strength, optimism, courage, and good coming from the forging fires of sorrow, loss, grief, and great struggle. While many poets' words live on because of their artistry, I would argue that Longfellow's words live on more because of their... Continue Reading →
“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” ⁂ classics
This is one of Shakespeare's most well loved sonnets and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is my current favorite as well. Typically analysis of this poem overall takes the incredibly literal approach to the content in saying that Shakespeare is saying that this one woman's beauty is eternal and will never fade away because he has written... Continue Reading →
“The Road Not Taken” ⁂ classics
This is a personal favorite of mine. I don't know if it was the images of trees breaking through the ruins I was thinking about when I was writing The Old Broken House With The Tree Growing Through It instead of sleeping last night or something else but this morning I awoke with these old... Continue Reading →
“lady, i will touch you with my mind” ⁂ e.e. cummings: modern classics
there is something delightful about knowing you're beautiful to look at, but there is something even more delightful about knowing you're a ravishing soul. “She accepts your compliments on her face, her hair, and her body graciously— and she is, indeed, beautiful. But she is only moved when you notice the beauty of... Continue Reading →
“Don’t Quit” ~ John Greenleaf Whittier: Classics
We all have those times in life where struggles pile on top of struggles, bad on top of bad, setbacks on top of setbacks. When this happens, we oftentimes declare that we will never give up and never surrender yet there always comes a point where we feel that we can go on no longer.... Continue Reading →
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” ⁂ classics
This piece has many layers. Those who know Herrick and his contemporaries in the Renaissance know that poetry of the time fit into three categories: religion, politics, or sex. Herrick tended to fall into the later of those three more than any other despite having been a pastor early in his life, a fact that... Continue Reading →
“Gawain & the Green Knight” ⁂ classics
I've reread Gawain & The Green Knight this week for the first time in probably 18 years. If you're not familiar with this work, it is a lengthy poem with 101 stanzas (2532 lines) that was originally written in Middle English by no one knows who somewhere around the 14th century... we think. While I... Continue Reading →
the kintsukuroi life 