We are listening creatures; whence else our speaking? And whence are we? So there is a Word that precedes us. We are spoken creatures. What constitutes this speech constitutes us in some way. And listening to this speech and speaking it are the acts of discernment and virtue. Words have many meanings. Mutatis mutandis, listening carefully to this word detects several valances. General listening is … Continue reading Poetic Ethics
We are listening creatures; whence else our speaking? Scripture speaks speech as God’s first act. God said, “let there be light,” and there was light. The Father simultaneously names and creates in speaking. The first act of Man, then, created in the image of God, is to name the animals. We image Him. Yet we must know how to listen from somewhere, too. So God … Continue reading What is Poetry?
To remember is to restore. To return to one’s memories, particularly the painful ones, is to revisit a place of holy ground. It is to return to the breaking ground and the winnowing field. In drear nighted December John Keats, 1817 In drear nighted December, Too happy, happy tree, Thy branches ne’er remember Their green felicity— The north cannot undo them With a sleety whistle … Continue reading Waiting to Remember
“Fair is foul and foul is fair,” sing the witches in Macbeth as they toss toads and newts and thumbs into the pot to make “double, double, toil and trouble.” Despite the appearance of sorcery, they do not supernaturally bewitch Macbeth. All they do is speak. Macbeth destroys himself of his own free will. It’s a subtle boast from Shakespeare: by giving the witches the … Continue reading Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads: Keeping Poetry Honest
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