thoughts and songs from Heather
These posts are my thoughts on various classic texts, often mixed together and seen through the lens of my current life.
Reflections on the experience of isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic lead me to a George Herbert poem about being stretched, “The Temper (I)” A friend wrote to me recently about the “weight of absence,” and I am finding absence heavy, … Continued
You had a good plan. A lovely plan. If God had just gone along with it, you would have given him the praise, and the world would have been a better place. But omnipotent God somehow let everything go wrong, … Continued
This week I decided to read John Milton’s poem “Lycidas,” which I saw praised as the greatest elegy in English. But as I stepped into the poem, I felt disoriented–I felt, I imagine, as Milton might if he stepped into … Continued
“Longer than you wish, sooner than you think.” I was driving 65 mph on the 110 when I heard this today, and laughed aloud. My daughters promptly reminded me that I had laughed at the same quote last week–which I … Continued
“In what torne ship soever I embarke…” The very word “whatsoever” is ripped apart, flapping around that wounded ship, and suddenly I feel the torn ship of my life. The sea of “s” sounds swallows me and washes me into … Continued
