Category: Imported

Kittredge of Harvard and other notable 19th-century scholarsnwere impressed by the maxim attributed to JakobnGrimm: Das Volk dichtet (“The folk make poetry”). Perhapsnso, we may now say, but only if Chaucer, Will Shakespeare,neven Jack Donne may also be admitted on occasionnto the sacred company of “the folk.”nIt is not easy to appreciate the lyric of...

automobile a “horseless carriage.” If the Middle Ages didnnot have lyre or lute, they had other instruments and sangnoften — much more often than we do — and with gusto ornpiety as the occasion invited.nThe term lyric will serve well enough if we properlynqualify its reference to the medieval lyric. To qualify itnproperly is to...

“Streke vp, harper, and make gode chere,nAnd wher that I goo, fere or nere.nTo owre husbondes make thou no [boste.”]n”Nay, mastres, as motte I thee,nYe schall newyr be wrayed for me;nI had leuer her dede to be,nAs hereof to be knowe.”nThey fylled the pottes by and by;nThey lett not for no coste trully;nThe harpyr stroke...

Or, for anybody and everybody, rhymed verses will preserventhe proverbs and wise sayings that guide conduct:nDrah thyn bond sone ayen,nyf men the doth a wycke theyn,nther thyn ahte ys lond.nSo that child with draweth is bondnFrom the fur & the brond,nthat hath byfore hue brend.n”Brend child fur dredeth,”nQuoth Hendyng.n(Draw back thy hand quickly againnIf a...

have the eternal and universal attraction of story as does thenballad. For this reason the great mass of the popular songs ofnmedieval times are lost to us, or — as Sir Edmund Chambersnputs it— “There must have been popular songs … forn[Chaucer’s] Absolon to sing to his rudible, but edacious timenhas reduced them to tantalizing...

Hawkins was doing his version of an Iranian studentnwho had missed eight weeks of class, yet wanted ann”A” in the calculus course.n”I know you are vondering why I have not to come tonclass since school start. I am good student. You can tell. ButnI am only support of my wife, my brother, my mother, andnnow...

new exercises. She had come to Hawkins for help. Henhelped her into bed.nThis night, after the usual frenzy, he lay awake while shendozed. Her giant, tail-less Manx cat sat on the nearby chestnof drawers and stared at him. He looked as big as a bobcat.nStaring. The hard eyes made Hawkins feel like the strangernhe was...

school play. He knew, though, that Barolo, as a matter ofnprinciple, wouldn’t walk into a church. Give him a fewndrinks and he could get fired up and rolling. At a party onennight someone rattled his cage and he could be heard aboveneveryone else: “Leap of faith, leap of faith. What they don’tntell you is you...

window of an abandoned house, a curtain blew outside as ifnto wave goodbye.nMonica’s church decided to put on a play, to benperformed the week before Easter. At supper onenevening she shyly asked him if he would be in it. Since therenwould be so many male parts, to start with 12 disciples plusnJesus, they were running...

“Listen to the new theologian. Tell me, old buddy, howndo you square all this magic with yourself.”n”I’m just doing a little archaeology. Can’t hurt anything.nBesides, I still get Monica,” he grinned, raising his eyebrowsnlike Groucho Marx, and tapping his imaginary cigar.n”Just a little empirical reconnaissance, huh? Trying to getna little certainty, is that it? You’d...

Jesus. Finally Hawkins rose and broke the bread for those atnthe table, telling them that he very much wanted to eat thenbread with them, but would not eat again until the kingdomnof his Father had come. The same with the goblet of wine.n”Pass this among you and drink, but I will not drink until mynFather’s...

spised by the townsmen as a gentileninvention — and lectures to his disillusionednlisteners on the importance ofntime.nFor most Eastern European Zionists,nthe group that founded (and, despitenthe present Oriental Jewish majority,nstill politically dominates) thenstate of Israel, Herzl was a “cold” andn”alien” presence, the embodiment of anGerman-Jewish ethos unrelated tontheir cultural experience. More typicalnof later Zionists were...

vite the ACLU into his country, innorder to insulate it against the rhetoric ofncrazy religious enthusiasts. One wouldnbe justified in asking how these gesturesnmight keep Israel’s sworn enemies fromnblowing her up. The question is, ofncourse, an impudent one: what is to benprotected is the future of an illusion ofnthe Enlightenment, not the physicalnsecurity of a...

70’s have waned to a degree, the readernstill will not have to look far to findnsuch leaps of association as this one bynJack Driscoll, from a recent issue ofnPoetry: “I stared and stared / at thenshape of my mother’s lips, the squarenof Kleenex almost dissolved, a perfectnred O / floating in the toilet. / I...

by Stephen B. Oates—an (atrocious)nexercise in what its author described asn”pure biography,” making use of “psychologicalninsights” in order “to shapenthe whole of Faulkner’s life so as tonsuggest its essence.” Especially byncomparison with Oates’s vulgarly pretentiousnaim, Professor Karl’s agendanmay strike the sympathetic reader as anrefreshingly straightforward alternativento Professor Blotner’s old-fashionedn(impure?) biographical approach. Innthis frame of mind,...

neighbors water their lawns withnlong loping sweeps of a hose.nThey used to sleep with thenfront door open and the screenndoor held with a simple hook.nThey used to listen to the radio,nand sometimes on Sundaysnthey’d take one of theninterurban trains out to thenbeach for a picnic.nThe mimicry here may be a little toonclose for comfort.nBetter is...

Letter From thenLower Rightn• by John Shelton ReednBeavers, Banners, and BullsnHere in Chapel Hill we’ve had thisnproblem with beavers. They’ve beenndamming creeks, as is their wont. Unfortunatelynin the process:they’ve beennturning great areas into) marsh andncreating a mosquito problem, so lastnyear the old boys of our public worksndepartment set out to kill the critters,nfiguring: no beavers...

with slow-motion instant replay. I wasnsurprised not to find the spectaclenmore disturbing. In fact it was riveting.nIt has been remarked that a bullfight isnnot a sport but a tragedy. (All right, sonI’ve been reading Death in the Afternoon.nIt makes a lot more sense now.)nAnyway, the next Sunday eveningnfound my daughter and me at thenplaza de...

ed less silliness. ;nMost egregious among the CatholicnChurch’s linguistic sins are those itnshares with other mainline churches:nthe “corrections” to avoid “sexism.”n”Sexism” is defined, by, those whonmake such decisions, in two contradictorynways: as any action or languagenhinting that there is a difference betweennmen and women, that we mightnpossibly have complementary responsibilitiesnin the church and in life;...

WORDS IN COLLISIONnThe Puritan andnthe ProfligatenJohn Lofton InterviewsnAllen GinsbergnLofton: In the first section of yournpoem “Howl” you wrote: “I sawnthe best young minds of my generationndestroyed by madness.” Did this alsonapply to you?i ‘nGinsberg: That’s not an accurate quotation.nI said the “best minds,” notn”the best young iriinds.” This is what isncalled hyperbole, an exaggerated statement,nsort...

John Loftonnno. Sir, first of all your tone is toonaggressive. You have to soften yourntone because there’s an element ofnaggression here. There’s an, elementnalmost like a police interrogation here.nLofton: But that’s not all bad. Thenpolice, in some instances, do a goodnjob, particularly in dealing with criminals.nGinsberg: Sir, in this case it’s a littlenimpolite. You’re being...

experience, religious experience, thatnyou might find within James’s booknThe Varieties of Religious Experiencenwhere there is a sudden sense of vastnessnand ancientness and respect andndevotional awareness or sacredness tonthe whole universe. Or whether thisnwas a by-product of some lack-lovenlonging and projection of the worldnwith my own feelings, or some nuttynbreakthrough.nLofton: What made you think anyonenat the...

you in terms of how you display yourselfnhere, not the history of yournthoughts. I’m trying to deal with thenevidence or manifestation of how younpresent yourself here — your harshness,naggression, and insistency and —nLofton: Why not call it my perseverance?nIsn’t that a nicer word? Or guts?nOr tenacity?nGinsberg: I would say there is a littlenelement of S&M...

would actually want to —nLofton: What do you mean “mostnpeople”? Where do you get your data?nGinsberg: Well, I’m just speaking as anhuman being poet who’s been aroundn61 years, a little older than you.nLofton: But that doesn’t mean, necessarily,nthat you’re smarter.nGinsberg: No, but that’s my experience.nIf you go back and talk to oldnfolks — they don’t...

Lofton: Excuse me, but you raised thenidea of having sex with a truck.nGinsberg: You extended it.nLofton: I’m just trying to accommodatenyou. And you’re attacking menagain.nGinsberg: No, I’m not attacking younat all.nLofton: I even offered to drive thentruck. And you attacked me.nGinsberg: You sure did.nLofton: But to hell with you. I won’tndrive the truck. Get your...

Ginsberg: Yes. And I certainly willncontradict myself.nLofton: This will be one of yournrnultitudes — the ability to contradictnyourself.nGinsberg: That’s what Whitman isnsaying.nLofton: It’s gibberish.nGinsberg: That our own minds are sonvast that we can wind up contradictingnourselves without having to freak-outnabout it. It’s very similar to what thenpoet John Keats said about negativencapability. He said the...

something can simultaneously be andnnot be?nGinsberg: Let’s put it this way. Allnconceptions as to existence of the self,nas well as all conceptions as to thennonexistence of the self, as well as allnconceptions as to the existence of thensupreme self, as well as all conceptionsnas to the nonexistence of the supremenself-nLofton: Yeah.nGinsberg: Are equally arbitrary, beingnonly...

perhaps an extension of egotism, annattempt to preserve one’s ego forevernby putting it in heaven.nLofton: But if ever there was a placenwhere man created gods in his ownnimage, it is in India. And also in thenancient world, Greece and Rome.nWhereas the God of the Old Testamentnis a God no human being couldnmake up. He is...

you’d admit that you don’t even wantnto impose what you believe in onnyourself.nGinsberg: I certainly would not like tonimpose any conception on myself.nLofton: But I’ve read that you don’tnwant to proselytize for homosexualityneven though you’re a homosexual.nAnd I’ve read that you would like tonhave children. Would you want yournkids to be homosexuals?nGinsberg: If they would...

hate God love death. If you don’tnbelieve in God, you hate Him. You arena God-hater, Mr. Ginsberg.nGinsberg: [laughing] You make a bignjump there. It’s like are you with me ornagainst me?nLofton: That’s what God says, exactlylnYou know what the First Gommandmentnsays.nGinsberg: Actually, I don’t.nLofton: Thou shalt have no other godsnbefore Me. This was said to...

to introducenA wonderful waynKnorVandcHadrenlnC Ti^^N-i i f^>M M! M’if* ^Ri “>,! ,nt”^tsn(. i.O*>sn,s EON(‘‘C,}^:;! !tt.s> £Kpi:i!nWH.1,1AM FRUSSKLLn33 selections your child must know.nFact and fiction, prose and poetry,nholiday favorites. Divided by age. BynDickens, Shakespeare, Twain, Cervantes,n0. Henry, Swift, etc. $14.95nto their heritagen(Yott’ll enjoy FREE!n$48.85nvaluenFREE!n42 more selections, prose and verse, bynLongfellow, Browning, Alcott, Stevenson,nCarroll, Andersen, Lear, Frost,netc....

Inspiring & Illuminating BooksnJoan of ArcnMark TwainnA fascinating and historically accuratenaccount of the story of Joan ofnArc told by America’s greatestnstoryteller. Twain spent years of researchnand considered it not only hisnmost important but also his bestnwork.n”Twain’s understanding of historynand Joan’s place in it accountsnfor his regarding his book Joan ofnArc as worth all of his...

EDITORnThomas FlemingnMANAGING EDITORnKatherine DaltonnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSnChilton Williamson, ]r.nASSISTANT EDITORnTheodore PappasnART DIRECTORnAnna Mycek-WodeckinCONTRIBUTING EDITORSnJohn W. Aldridge, Harold O.J.nBrown, Samuel Francis, GeorgenGarrett, Russell Kirk, E. ChristiannKopff, Clyde WilsonnCORRESPONDING EDITORSnBryce Christensen, Odie Faulk, JanenGreer, John Shelton Reed, JosephnSchwartz, Gary VasilashnEDITORIAL SECRETARYnLeann DobbsnPUBLISHERnAllan C. CarlsonnASSOCIATE PUBLISHERnMichael WardernPUBLICATION DIRECTORnGuy C. ReffettnCOMPOSITION MANAGERnAnita FedoranCIRCULATION MANAGERnRochelle FranknA Publication ofnThe Rockford Institute:nEditorial and...

On ‘Rock and RollnNever Forgets’nNever did I think the day would arrivenwhen I would feel compelled to comento the defense of the music of IrvingnBerlin and Cole Porter. I felt pricked bynthe darts flung at their genius by ThomasnFleming (Perspective, August 1989).nI suppose that first I should castnBerlin and Porter in their rightful rolesnas two...

THE PHENOMENON of popularnmovements of protest succeedingnand then being swallowed up by thenEstablishment is not a new story innAmerican history, but the fate of “conservatism”nin the last decade or so givesna remarkable case study. Not long ago,nafter ages of liberal dominance, conservatismnseemed to be in the ascendancynboth intellectually and at the grassrootsnlevel. Somewhere between the...

he will go down as a failure who metnnone of his promises.nIn a sense both of these gentlemenndeserve their fate, but it would havenbeen much better if they had beennovercome by superior ideas rather thannby political operatives utterly devoid ofnidea and principle.n— Clyde WilsonnWITCHES AND SATANISTS taxexempt?nWhen we raised the issue innthe September 1988 Chronicles,...

did not wish to see their people dividednby rehgious strife. The prime casentoday is Israel, where Orthodox Jewsnhave fought adamantly against the constructionnof a Brigham Young facilitynfor fear of Mormon missionizing.nIn religious matters the, Romansnwere a most tolerant people and accordednlegitimacy to a wide variety ofnsects, including Judaism but not Christianity.nIn the official view, Christianitynwas...

down to the present. For decades, evenncenturies, the icy blasts of winter hissednthrough the slats of poorly maintainednmen’s outhouses, some of which nondoubt collapsed onto their defenselessnusers, causing embarrassment and innmany cases personal injury.nBut from a cultural point of view thenmale outhouse disadvantage was evennmore severe. For in the first place whonbut men were euchred...

not contradict federal laws concerningnthe hiring of illegal residents, the proposednlaw would prohibit discriminationnagainst illegal aliens in the areas ofnhousing and education. Quotas onnbehalf of illegal aliens are just aroundnthe corner.nDean Proto was also correct in notingnthat New York is not alone innproviding social services to citizens andnnoncitizens alike. As FAIR (the Federationnfor American Immigration...

es” of the 1950’s and 60’s — “I wasn’tnthere, but I wish I had been” — asn”Chapter One” in what promises to bena kind of civil rights equivalent of anRussian novel. “Chapter One” wasn”about freedom and justice, about removingnlegal barriers, about full rightsnfor each and every one of us as Americanncitizens.” But “Chapter One” isnnot...

PERSPECTIVEnh: ‘i’-‘: :l.^KnEven in mid-September you cannot go comfortably bynday into the deserts of southeastern Utah. Together thenlate Edward Abbey and I rented horses and rode into the LanSal mountains, following what began as a dirt road andnended as a trail at an elevation of approximately 10,500 feet.nFrom the mountain pass, we looked northwest betweenntriangled...

ting ovation,” and “gunfire in the parking lot.” Ed’s thesis,nbriefly stated, was that the public-lands beef industry is anpublic scandal and an ecological disaster, resulting in overgrazingnand other forms of environmental mayhem; thatn”Western cattle-men are nothing more than welfare parasites”nwho have been “getting a free ride on the public lands fornover a century”; and that...

Albert Bierstadt was a German-born American painter whontraveled widely in the American West in the 1860’s and 70’snand produced the most excruciatingly ethereal paintings ofnthe Rocky Mountains, in which Nature is a cathedralnflooded by exalting unearthly light on the threshold of whichnMan stands, staring in awe through an invisible portal.nToday, the Bierstadt Mentality is a...

Vant more reading time?nListen to a book… mmmnUnabridged hooks on cassette tapes.nIncrease your reading opportunities by listening. Imagine the inspirationnyou’ll get from the great classics listed below. Now driving, exercising, andneven cooking can be mentally stimulating.nCLASSICS ON TAPE books are reasonablly priced and available fornpurchase or 30 day rental. Seize the day—and a CLASSIC ON...

period of adequate rainfall during the same period. Likewise,nthere was increased immigration from Europe bynpeople anxious to own land, the introduction of improvednfarm machinery, and the building of railroads.nIn fact, the railroads had as much — or more — to do withnthe rapid westward migration as did the government itself.nThe transcontinental railroads were the recipients...

topsoil out into the Atlantic.nAnother result of increased use of machinery was greaternproductivity per farmer — which, in turn, caused prices tonfall and yet more bankruptcies. Machinery began to increasenthe average size of the farm from the 160 acres of thenHomestead Act to 200 and then 300 acres and then more.nBy the 1950’s the average...

head, I’d spend $125,000 that first year on livestock alonen(not counting feeding the blasted things), just to make myn$11,000. Provided that sale prices remain stable and don’tndrop again, and every cow produces a live calf, and there arenno increases in feed or variable costs, it would only take me anlittle over 11 years to make...

fired very rapidly, but they are not fully automatic, likenthe machine gun. They do not fire continuously for asnlong as the trigger is held back or cartridges remain in thenmagazine.nAn assault rifle is a member of a class of weapons firstndeveloped for military use by the Germans in World War II.nAssault rifles are capable of...

permits the Patrick Purdys of this world to run free and gainnaccess to any sort of weapon. But does the solution tonpreventing such acts as his lie in oudawing a specific type ofnfirearm and casting ridicule or suspicion upon those whonwish to own them? Is the mounting incidence of violence innour society mainly attributable to...

The Trellisnby Charles Edward EatonnSo there I was lying in my breechclothnWhile the scented trade winds blew over me,nStripped clean of angst by a swim in the sea,nMy skin air-brushed with the gold of the sun -nSomewhere, far off, the image abattoirnAs I stretched out dreaming with open hands,nNo hammer, no cleaver, no dripping club.nBlood...