Author Archives: Uncomely and Broken

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About Uncomely and Broken

I am a classicist in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Protected: The Afterlife of the Gifts of the Magi

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Uncomely and Broken

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Posted in Bible, Italy, Uncategorized | Enter your password to view comments.

Lauro de Bosis’ Gesture

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

From George Garrett’s “A Wreath for Garibaldi,” Kenyon Review 23 (1961) 487-88: It is hard for me to know how I feel about Lauro di Bosis. I suffer from mixed feelings. He was a well-to-do, handsome, and sensitive young poet. … Continue reading →

Posted in Emblems, Italy, Military, Poetry, Rome, Statues & Monuments | Leave a comment

Fake Jan!

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

You may not know this, but January 2nd is, to some online hipsters that I do not count myself among, sometimes called “Fake Jan” Day. Jan 2. Get it? The whole thing involves the Brady Bunch Variety Hour in some … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Boston, Drama, Family, Music, Rome, Time | Leave a comment

Protected: Good and faithful servant

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Posted in Animals, Bible, Cemeteries & Funerals, Dogs, Emblems, Military, Poetry, Statues & Monuments, Uncategorized | Enter your password to view comments.

No middle way out of the waste land?

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

I just love the March 6, 1950 cover of Time magazine, which depicts T.S. Eliot poised between a cross over his left shoulde, and a martini (or is it a grail?) on his right. The caption below reads, “No middle … Continue reading →

Posted in England, Language & Etymology, Poetry, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Gassed”: My Thoughts and Another’s, Unknown

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

John Singer Sargent’s Gassed (1919)– I’ve seen it twice, last fall at the Frist’s WWI & American Art exhibit and, more memorably, in 2012 at the Imperial War Museum in London. The Olympics were on, and service men and women … Continue reading →

Posted in Cemeteries & Funerals, Classics, England, Military, Poetry, Sports & Games, Time | Leave a comment

Protected: NO AND SHUT UP: Intellectualism and Its Discontents in Nancy

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Posted in Cartoons, Classics, Education, Family, Military, Mythology | Enter your password to view comments.

Their Ancient, Glittering Eyes: Prefatory Remarks for the Alderson-Tillinghast Inaugural Lecture

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

Many thanks to all of you for being here today, a day I have long been awaiting, because it is the day when I finally get to express my deep gratitude to the University and its benefactors, and particularly to … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Pontius Pilate, Sewanee, Time | Leave a comment

Pulvis et Umbra

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

A final shot from Mine 21, a beautiful image of miners’ headlamps which flicker like stars about to go out. Nos ubi decidimus quo pater Aeneas, quo dives Tullus et Ancus, pulvis et umbra sumus. –Horace, Odes 4.7.14-16 When we … Continue reading →

Posted in Cemeteries & Funerals, Classics, Mythology, Poetry, Tennessee, The South, Time | Leave a comment

The Drunken Pat Argument

Posted on October 13, 2018 by Uncomely and Broken

A fine piece by Adam Gopnik in this week’s New Yorker on Frederick Douglass indicates that there was tension between the movements to enfranchise women and blacks, with a remark on how anti-Irish sentiment was used by either side: [Elizabeth … Continue reading →

Posted in Ireland, Race, Slavery, The South | Leave a comment