By Morgan O’Neill
Summer is here and with the long languid days, ever warm, I think of Lake George east of the Adirondacks in upstate New York. It is not hard. My parents, both deceased for many years are buried there. I don’t mean in a cemetery landed and occupied by strange neighbors on a hillside somewhere. I mean their cremated remains are scattered on the lake. Morbid? No. Far … Read More
It may be strange to say this, but to me, a woman lounging somewhere – on a couch reading near the fire on a blustery winter night or perhaps, early in the evening while the light is still good under a tree on a breezy late spring day is sexy. Maybe she is squirreled away in a library nook, alone, open book in hand, intently focused, oblivious … Read More
Act IV. Scene 7, the body count is rising in what many consider Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy. Hamlet’s turn is coming, but not before Ophelia, unable to cope any longer… succumbs. Her brother, Laertes listens as Gertrude describes the scene:
There is a willow grows askant the brook
That shows his (hoar) leaves in the glassy stream.
Therewith fantastic garlands did she make
Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and … Read More
Call me Ishmael, or….
Call me Insane. Recently, I cannot recall how long ago, being the pauper I am, I was perusing old books at an ancient book store. Call it the pre-Kindle, pre-e-book era. I thought I would go on a trip, but having no income to outlay for such a venture I imagined I might escape in a story. Then I saw, on the … Read More
Though it cannot be confirmed, Edmund Spenser is thought to be born in 1552 in London, twelve years before Shakespeare. He is most recognized as the author of The Faerie Queene, yet many would argue that his shorter poems alone would rank him among the greatest English poets. One of those shorter works, Epithalamion, epitomizes his skill and brilliance.
In the Epithalamion, Spenser constructs … Read More
by Morgan O’Neill
Billy Collins was appointed Poet Laureate of the United States for 2001-2003. He is the author of six collections of poetry. Sailing Around the Room, published in 2001 by Random House is one of my favorites. There is a breeziness and charm to Collins’ poetry; an unexpectedness that catches the reader by surprise and often makes him smile. Perhaps, it is foolish to think that a … Read More
by Morgan O’Neill
I cannot explain what made me think of Robert Herrick as I stood there, in the middle of the Curve show last February looking at this beautiful, delicate diaphanous baby doll designed by Jane Woolrich, but I did. It was exquisitely simple, though I knew that the intricacy in the detail and the quality of the workmanship was anything but simple. The first lines of Herrick’s … Read More