The End of War Poetry
Among literary forms, war poetry is unusual for having enjoyed a universally acknowledged and tightly defined golden age.
Rocker Crocked. Pistol Shot.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.The paths of glory lead but to the grave. ~Thomas Gray, Elegy written in an English Country Churchyard. I shouldn’t overstretch this frame—or shoe-horn the bunion-disfigured
Thoughts on Longevity
Olivia de Havilland, the oldest surviving actress from Hollywood’s Golden Age, turned 104 last week. To live that long is in itself an act of generosity. She won Oscars for her leading roles in To Each His Own (1946), and William Wyler’s 1949 classic, The Heiress, in which
Death of an Old-Fashioned Clown
When I recently discovered that Fred Willard had appeared as the ghost of Trump’s father in a skit on Jimmy Kimmel’s TV show, I must admit my heart sank. Not that there’s anything wrong with political satire, of course—traditionally, the comic has played the vital role
