We’re at the close of The Golden Echo’s second year. During the year, we settled down from our move out to Georgia (as much as we can as Cascadians) and we’re now awaiting our firstborn, Eleanor. With everything that’s going on, I thought we would take a look at some of the most viewed posts on the blog so far.
Most popular posts published this year
1. Ten Bookish People You Should Follow on Twitter
There might just be donuts on the other side of this link…
https://twitter.com/SLevelt/status/697678066970185728
2. How to Read Literature Like a Monk
And by monk, I don’t mean Br. Monday. He’s not much of a reader…
3. 3 Reasons Why You Should Read Difficult Poems
Find out why it’s a good thing when a poem resists understanding after the first reading.
I think everyone needs to hear how “al shal be wel, and al shal be wel, and al manner of thyng shal be wele.”
Una poema que se trata de silencio, un pájaro, y la muerte.
Popular posts from last year
1. The Power of Language to Transform the Human Heart
When Gerard Manley Hopkins writes a poem about a blacksmith and addresses him as one who “didst fettle for the great gray drayhorse his bright and battering sandal,” he is not merely bringing the blacksmith to life, but in a way is bringing us to life as well. Through the sound, rhythm, passion of his words, he is bringing to life in us, as might never have been brought to life at all, a sense of the uniqueness and mystery and holiness not just of the blacksmith and his great gray drayhorse, but of the reality itself, including the reality of ourselves.
– Frederick Buechner
2. Why the Leaden Echo Isn’t Enough
Find out why this beautiful song is only half the story.
3. A Person is a Student is a Customer is a Product is a Thing
I think the Margaret Atwood bump helped here…
Are we treating our students like @MargaretAtwood's crakers? #Education #ArchiveDay https://t.co/RDB6SqH7nf
— Christopher Adamson (@Adamson_CW) April 2, 2016
Judging from the keyword searches leading to this post, I think people are looking for ways to write the 5-paragraph essay instead of the hard truth that it’s a teaching tool that can get in the way when we start college.
Well, I think language does bring us together. Fragile and misleading as it is, it’s the best communication we’ve got, and poetry is language at its most intense and potentially fulfilling. Poems do bring people together.
What’s Next?
This coming year, expect some posts about Eleanor and books. We’re putting together a list of fairy tales we will never read to her (looking at you “Donkey Skin”) and books that we want to make sure she grows up with. I’ll also be working my way through my reading lists for my comprehensive exams, so I’m sure something will come out of that. At Emory we go through two period lists and one theory list. For my period lists, I’ll work my way through my specializations of medieval and Victorian literature.
And in May I’ll be at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, so you can look forward to a post or two on that.
Which posts were your favorites? What would you like to see more of? Doing a year in review post on your blog? Go ahead and link to your post below in the comments.
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2 Responses
A lovely reflection and one to encourage regular re-reading. And as we approach the beginning of the Year of our Lord 2017 may I raise a glass to all who resist every process that seeks to reduce them to an object for marketing. I certainly think that regular reading of Mother Julian is one way to do it. It will be a regular part of my spiritual practice in the coming year. Sadly my knowledge of Spanish is not sufficient for reading Otavio Pas in his own language.
Every blessing on you and your family this coming year.
Thank you! I think Mother Julian is what we need to hear in our age too, especially what she has to say about love. There are a few of Paz’s poems in translation over at the Poetry Foundation, (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/octavio-paz#about).
Happy New Year to you and your family!