“After Rereading Sophocles’ ‘Antigone'”
Better and braver, and more rash by far Than all of us, uncareful of the grave, Your voice still lives to shame us that we are Not strong to join you prisoned in the cave. […]
“Elijah”
On me I felt the Lord’s eye look When ravens fed me by the brook; Nor moved from me the Father’s eye In season rich nor season dry. […]
“Isaiah”
To speak of Him my slow tongue slips, For I am one of unclean lips. But one who held a burning coal Has seared my mouth and made me whole. A voice said, “Who shall go for us?” […]
“Cain”
The dead fire on the altar seems to live, The smoke seems yet to sting my downcast eyes That look upon the hands none can forgive Long as the blood they shed against me cries. […]
John Colet, Catholic Humanist
John Colet’s life and learning represent Catholic humanism at its finest. He advocated for such reforms in education as the soundest minds of his day also desired. He knew the value of learning and—unlike more than a few intellectuals—he knew also the limits of its advantages. To play about carelessly with the words “humanist” and [...]
An Oaf’s Magnificat: On Kingsley Amis and “Lucky Jim”
In 1954, “Lucky Jim” was a new planet: When Kingsley Amis wrote it, English satirical fiction had been for a third of a century a decidedly mandarin and highbrow business. Unlike his predecessors, Amis depicts representatives of the lower orders and the previously inaccessible university world that is not so much a garden of philosophy [...]