Tag: William Shakespeare

Memorable Scenes

It has been said of the play “Hamlet” that its best scene is the one in which Horatio first sees the ghost, or the one in which he tells Hamlet of it, or the one…

He Contains Multitudes

[Hamlet] inherits the virtues of a score of his predecessors–and some of their weaknesses. Yet he is no mere recapitulation of them. In him, rather, they recombine to make a man as individual as he…

Speed

[At this point a nurse showed up, interrupting our talk. Although he was only sixty-five {Jean-Paul} Sartre was already suffering from all the amphetamines he had taken his whole adult life and needed to receive…

With Gratitude for Harold Bloom

In 1994 I purchased Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon after I had taken a leave of absence from my doctoral program in Religion and Society at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.   Bloom  offered…

Plus ça change, plus …

How yet resolves the Governor of the town?This is the latest parle we will admit.Therefore to our best mercy give yourselvesOr, like to men proud of destruction,Defy us to our worst. For, as I am…

Words Words Words

David Crystal, Words Words Words Oxford University Press, 2006   From this engaging book, I note  the following words and  passages. 1. Aptronym = when a name is felt to be especially appropriate to a…

A Little Encouragement

Dear Bella Levenshteyn You texted you were concerned Your poetry output hasn’t been consistent lately Output flows from input And you’re getting plenty of input At your new position with the farmworkers, right? Lots of thoughts…

Austere, Moral, Mythic, Ceremonial

Thursday 31 October 2013 Magan, A while back I read this collection, Sartre on Theater, and I noted especially the following passages from his lectures, interviews, and articles. I want to share them with you,…

Books

My father had an Appalachian education That went through sixth grade I went after and got a BA, MA And a PhD I doubt my father Ever finished reading a book (I once asked him…