Monthly Archives: May 2007

Meaning, Knowing and Metaphor: On a Section from Wittgenstein’s “Blue Book”

To my readers: This is two thousand words long, and no, it is not a paper I wrote that I’m posting. This is original, and is meant as a blog post. All the passages that are pertinent are listed in the text below, even if they are a bit out of order, and can be …

May 31, 2007 – 4:59 pm | By ashok | Posted in philosophy | Tagged | Comments (4)

"That Time of Year," Indeed: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 as an Introduction to New Criticism

Sonnet 73 Shakespeare That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which …

May 31, 2007 – 4:50 pm | By ashok | Posted in poetry, shakespeare | Tagged , , | Comments (6)

The Distance of Love: On Auden’s "Are You There?"

Originially published 2006-06-07. Are You There? W.H. Auden Each lover has some theory of his own About the difference between the ache Of being with his love, and being alone: Why what, when dreaming, is dear flesh and bone That really stirs the senses, when awake, Appears a simulacrum of his own. Narcissus disbelieves in …

May 31, 2007 – 3:04 pm | By ashok | Posted in auden, poetry | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Does "a kingdom care?" On Emily Dickinson’s "Read, sweet, how others strove…"

Originally published 2006-02-27. Read, sweet, how others strove… Emily Dickinson Read, sweet, how others strove, Till we are stouter; What they renounced, Till we are less afraid; How many times they bore The faithful witness, Till we are helped, As if a kingdom cared! Read then of faith That shone above the fagot; Clear strains …

May 31, 2007 – 3:02 pm | By ashok | Posted in dickinson, poetry | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Industry and Divinity: On Hopkins’ "God’s Grandeur"

God’s Grandeur Gerard Manley Hopkins The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with …

May 31, 2007 – 2:57 pm | By ashok | Posted in christianity, poetry | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Purity and Growth: On Pound’s "Fan Piece, for Her Imperial Lord"

Fan-Piece, for Her Imperial Lord Ezra Pound O Fan of white silk, clear as frost on the grass-blade, You also are laid aside. Commentary: The fan is a thing of beauty and richness for a woman of power. It is white, and its beauty certainly comes from its being spotless, its being pure. Yet the …

May 31, 2007 – 2:54 pm | By ashok | Posted in poetry | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

A Thought on Auden’s “The More Loving One”

The More Loving One W.H. Auden Looking up at the stars, I know quite well That, for all they care, I can go to hell, But on earth indifference is the least We have to dread from man or beast. How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we …

May 31, 2007 – 2:50 pm | By ashok | Posted in auden, poetry | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Tyrannical Ambition: On Auden’s "Epitaph On A Tyrant"

Originally composed and published 2005-12-23. Epitaph On A Tyrant W.H. Auden Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after, And the poetry he invented was easy to understand; He knew human folly like the back of his hand, And was greatly interested in armies and fleets; When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter, …

May 31, 2007 – 2:44 pm | By ashok | Posted in auden, poetry | Tagged , | Comments (7)

Is Democracy Feasible? (Reflections on the Gettysburg Address)

for Glen Thurow The Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so …

May 31, 2007 – 2:29 am | By ashok | Posted in lincoln, politics | Tagged , , | Comments (21)

The Importance of Being Mortal: On Emily Dickinson’s "Success Is Counted Sweetest"

Success Is Counted Sweetest… Emily Dickinson Success is counted sweetest By those who ne’er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need. Not one of all the purple host Who took the flag to-day Can tell the definition, So clear, of victory, As he, defeated, dying, On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph …

May 31, 2007 – 2:06 am | By ashok | Posted in dickinson, poetry | Tagged , , | Comments (3)