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Category Archives: Death
The Song of Roland
(La Chanson de Roland) anonymous (Turold?) late 11th century (The mightiest and noblest of Charlemagne’s crusading knights is betrayed, but his companions stand fiercely by him as the Saracens attack.) The year is 778. The brave knight Roland and his army, led by eleven of the noblest warriors in Christendom, watch in horror as an […]
“The Judgment”
(“Das Urteil”) Franz Kafka 1912 (After treating a needy friend superficially for years, Georg finally pays the price.) This is an existentialist horror tale about a man Georg who treats a distant friend superficially, then pays for this crime with his life. The distant friend is sick, poor and unmarried. Georg cannot think of what […]
Lyrical Ballads, and other early poems
William Wordsworth 1785-1799 (A poetic sage takes lessons on goodness and beauty from nature.) A man of wisdom, a poet of nature, is Wordsworth. These are the goals to which he aspires, goals that are discernable in his work from a very early age. He wrote many of his greatest poems in the years covered […]
Pearl
The West Midlands Poet 14th century (A father struggles to recover faith and peace after losing his baby daughter.) Diversity of structure is one of the wonders of poetry. Today’s poets often celebrate freedom from structure, which has its own beauty. The medieval mind cherished a different kind of beauty, one that is neither extinct nor […]
Apology of Socrates
October 3, 2014 / Leave a comment
(Απολογια Σωκρατους) Plato 4th century BC (An innocent man delivers an inspiring speech to the court before he is executed.) Socrates is a bit of a mystery, if you insist on being a real evidentiary hardliner. He wrote nothing himself, so we have to rely on others’ characterizations of him. Xenophon paints him as the […]
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