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Essays

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Oil Portrait of Richard Wilbur, 2006, by Chris Bagg

RICHARD WILBUR'S DOWN TO EARTH METAPHYSICS

"Richard Wilbur's Underheard Melodies:An Eavesdropping God, Philosophical Fountains, Nocturnal Anxieties" was written to explore a neglected side of his life's work: the presence of Christian experience in many of his finest poems. (143 KB)

"INTERNAL BLEEDING" RE-INTRODUCES GRANDIN CONOVER, WHO DIED IN 1969, AND WHO WROTE ABOUT HIS OWN LIFE AND AMERICA IN POEMS AND PLAYS WE WEREN'T READY FOR UNTIL THE 21st CENTURY.

"Internal Bleeding of the Body Politic" is Bagg's introduction to Azul Editions re-issue of 10 YEARS, a book of poems by Grandin Conover, originally published in the last century, but whose right-on prescience about our country's preventable, but now out- (154 KB)

HOW KEATS ENACTED SO MUCH OF HIS LIFE––AND HIS DEATH––IN THE WILDLY ROMPING, TRUTH-STALKING AND SELF-SCOURGING LETTERS HE WROTE TO HIS BROTHERS, HIS BUDDIES AND HIS BELOVED.

"The Awkward Bow of John Keats" (133 KB)

WHY SHAKESPEARE AND CATULLUS REACT SO DIFFERENTLY TO SEXUAL REJECTION AND DISILLUSIONMENT

"Lyric Impasse in Shakespeare and Catullus" argues that while Catullus vividly dramatizes the hopelessness of his thwarted love for Lesbia, Shakespeare transforms his own rejection by his lovers into various poignant triumphs. (236 KB)

WHY TRANSLATIONS OF GREEK PLAYS HAVE A SHORT SHELF LIFE

"The Joys of Being Ephemeral" reflects on Bagg's work as a time-bound translator of ancient Greek Plays, pondering especially the reasons why the originals will outlive even their most inspired English versions, on into the constantly evolving future. (66.5 KB)

WHAT'S THE SOURCE OF THE GOD DIONYSOS' POWER OVER HUMANKIND? WINE? LUST? OR SOMETHING MUCH WORSE?

Introduction to THE BAKKHAI (79 KB)

HOW SAPPHO USES DAYDREAM AND THE PRESENCE OF APHRODITE TO INTENSIFY THE SHARED FEELINGS OF THE YOUNG WOMEN IN HER CHARMED CIRCLE

"Love, Ceremony and Daydream in Sappho's Poetry" (240 KB)
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