In my last post on Stevie Smith, I suggested that the poet writes from a perspective of innocence, translating into … More

It might be tempting to think Stevie Smith is putting on an act; with such a thought, we might be … More

A Poem of Despondencies . We go whatever route to run un-      obstructed. A city without seasons may bug … More

The problem of criticism—and the study of criticism—is what to say about, how to reflect on and make sense of, … More

Among those brilliant readers and critics, Johnson, Coleridge, Eliot, and Empson, the primary engine of productivity, whether in marginalia, publications, … More

Approached from the direction of monumentality, The Waste Land calls for the literary historian: the poem is a post-Romantic attempt … More

“My Last Afternoon with Uncle Devereux Winslow” has become one of my favorite poems by Robert Lowell and one that … More

            Aristotle, frustrating some, claims that “a life of virtue is a life of flourishing.” The statement can be variously … More

Paule Marshall’s debut novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones is one of the best American novels of the mid-twentieth century. When Marshall … More