You can be staunchly opposed to the horrors of war, and then be on the side against Russia and against Nazi Germany.
Building your magnificent palace and Taj Mahal on the sand acknowledges that only impermanence exists. We get so attached to our favorite things. We so badly want those things we hold dear to remain, to be built on the rock. A husband or wife or partner. A father or mother or family member. A house. A career. And yet, all people and all things will pass.
It takes relinquishing control to allow your magnificent masterpiece to be built on sand. It takes an effort of will to accept and allow the fact of impermanence, the fact that the only constant is change.
Building on the rock is building on tradition. The tradition of this world is whites first and men first.
The critics turning against Millay and praising jerks like Hemingway, o! what a surprise. (not) Why do we fail to recognize sexism, especially in the past when it was the norm? Why do we naïvely view the past through the idealistic lens of the present?
Sexism and racism run the world. Why do you think Donald Trump gets votes from just under half the people in the US?
Why do you think we spend so much written attention on Republicans and their ilk.
Millay is obviously a social experimenter and renegade, a wild card, ahead of her time. True free thinkers and social experimenters have an interesting and unusual habit of landing on the right side of history, when it comes to their political positions.
This is all great Roland, but Hemingway was only a jerk later, after he drank too much and got too high on his own supply. He is one of the all-time great writers, and his heart was in the right place more often than not, in the early years. Excellent analysis of the poem. Better than mine!
I will defer to your knowledge of Hemingway, I am not even close to being a literary expert. I am pleased to contribute on a Sunday, which I rarely do, because this time your piece spoke to me. Analysis is my joy.
I always wondered about her name, now I know! That’s what I love about your writing Greg always enlightening your readers! Thanks for sharing and the show Friday was great! Missed LB but Kimberly was a worthy fill in!
Glad to know that you, a young person, recognizes Vincent's greatness. I have paid my subscription in order to thank you for this post about one of my favorite poets. Thanks for this, and more.
Passion. Zest. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Yes indeed, her art burns brightly still, after many decades, as do the hearts who, passionate like her, strive to seek, to find, and not to yield. Thanks GO. Sometimes another’s spark will ignite the bonfire.
Thanks, Nora! The ads are repurposed from my podcast, and they are the most fun I have all week!
🏳🌈
Right! I didn't even think of Pride!
You can be staunchly opposed to the horrors of war, and then be on the side against Russia and against Nazi Germany.
Building your magnificent palace and Taj Mahal on the sand acknowledges that only impermanence exists. We get so attached to our favorite things. We so badly want those things we hold dear to remain, to be built on the rock. A husband or wife or partner. A father or mother or family member. A house. A career. And yet, all people and all things will pass.
It takes relinquishing control to allow your magnificent masterpiece to be built on sand. It takes an effort of will to accept and allow the fact of impermanence, the fact that the only constant is change.
Building on the rock is building on tradition. The tradition of this world is whites first and men first.
The critics turning against Millay and praising jerks like Hemingway, o! what a surprise. (not) Why do we fail to recognize sexism, especially in the past when it was the norm? Why do we naïvely view the past through the idealistic lens of the present?
Sexism and racism run the world. Why do you think Donald Trump gets votes from just under half the people in the US?
Why do you think we spend so much written attention on Republicans and their ilk.
Millay is obviously a social experimenter and renegade, a wild card, ahead of her time. True free thinkers and social experimenters have an interesting and unusual habit of landing on the right side of history, when it comes to their political positions.
This is all great Roland, but Hemingway was only a jerk later, after he drank too much and got too high on his own supply. He is one of the all-time great writers, and his heart was in the right place more often than not, in the early years. Excellent analysis of the poem. Better than mine!
I will defer to your knowledge of Hemingway, I am not even close to being a literary expert. I am pleased to contribute on a Sunday, which I rarely do, because this time your piece spoke to me. Analysis is my joy.
The trouble is, you think you have time. Buddha
Awesome
Part of the reason Trump exists is because he knows how paranoid white men are
Yes. Paranoid, insecure.
I always wondered about her name, now I know! That’s what I love about your writing Greg always enlightening your readers! Thanks for sharing and the show Friday was great! Missed LB but Kimberly was a worthy fill in!
Thanks, Christine! Glad you liked! Yeah, the bit about her name is fascinating.
Indeed, always enlightening. Never fails to plant seeds for inquiring minds…
So sorry I missed these poems in my school years, thanks for the introduction. Sad that we are racing backward with self-righteous fervor
Thanks! Yes: backwards backwards backwards we lurch.
Glad to know that you, a young person, recognizes Vincent's greatness. I have paid my subscription in order to thank you for this post about one of my favorite poets. Thanks for this, and more.
Hi!
Thanks so much for this, and for subscribing! Much appreciated.
Passion. Zest. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Yes indeed, her art burns brightly still, after many decades, as do the hearts who, passionate like her, strive to seek, to find, and not to yield. Thanks GO. Sometimes another’s spark will ignite the bonfire.
Thanks, John!
Greg, yet another poet i do not know but this poet i intend to look into. Good stuff.
And thanks for the reference to one of the greater films, Blade Runner
and Tyrells "Tears in the Rain" speech.
Note: Currently hard rains in Flordia washing the sand out from under foolish built structures.
Love BLADE RUNNER. Saw it for the first time, director's cut, big screen at the Uptown in DC, and I was sick, so feverish as to be almost tripping...
Blade Runner 49 got dumbed down but still was ok.
❤️
Hemingway: i have been advised that his influence on writing was substantial.
Brevity, short powerful sentences, I'm told.
His fiction is not enganging to me.
I do like his Dispatches From Spain.
I envy his time in Cuba.
Oops. Roy Batty, "Tears in the Rain"
What a timely piece, on so many levels. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you!
Thank you!