Category Archives: Poetry

Protected: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Uncomely and Broken

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Posted in Bible, Classics, Emblems, England, Italy, Military, Poetry, Rome, Statues & Monuments, Time | Enter your password to view comments.

Protected: Happy Evacuation Day!

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Uncomely and Broken

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Posted in Boston, England, Family, Ireland, Military, Nautical, Poetry, Saints, Sewanee | Enter your password to view comments.

Quamvis Se Tyrio Superbus Ostro

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Uncomely and Broken

Another translation from  the poetry of Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy (3.4 metrum), on the worthlessness of worldly office, if it it bestowed by worthless people. Quamvis se Tyrio superbus ostro Comeret et niveis lapillis, Invisus tamen omnibus vigebat Luxuriae Nero … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Poetry, Sewanee | Leave a comment

Guest Blog! M. K. Hammond, Turnings with Tennessee Williams

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Uncomely and Broken

A little over two years ago, I published an essay called “Property of Tennessee Williams” in Humanities, the journal of the National Endowment of the Humanities.  My friend, the author M. K. Hammond, sent me her thoughts on the poem, … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Poetry, Sewanee, Statues & Monuments | Leave a comment

Plant and Leafs from Green’s View

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Uncomely and Broken

The first time my wife and I looked out from Green’s View in Sewanee, she said, “It looks like the original cover of The Fellowship of the Ring.”  She was right, of course, in more ways than one.  Sewanee has … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Sewanee, Tennessee, Trees & Flowers | 7 Comments

Scylla or Charybdis? The Homeric Trolley Problem

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Uncomely and Broken

The recent publication of two new books on ethics have got me thinking about one of my favorite Homeric stories. David Edmonds’ Would You Kill the Fat Man? (Princeton) and Thomas Cathcart’s The Trolley Problem (Workman) each deal with an … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Mythology, Nautical, Poetry | 2 Comments

Doug Seiters

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Uncomely and Broken

The following is a talk I gave at the Sewanee Emeritus Association Annual Banquet in honor of Doug Seiters on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at the old Sewanee Inn. When Laurence Alvarez contacted me a few months ago asking me … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Education, Poetry, Sewanee | 2 Comments

The Daisy Hereabouts

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Uncomely and Broken

A bit of floral folklore, previously unknown to me, has to do with the spread of daisies in the area during the Civil War. Perhaps some of my friends in the sciences could add some useful remarks on the matter? … Continue reading →

Posted in Military, Poetry, Sewanee, The South, Trees & Flowers, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Remarks for “Foundations of Place” Panel

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Uncomely and Broken

My colleagues, John Willis and Jerry Smith, have given better talks than I ever could about the historical situation of the University’s founding a century and half or so ago, and of course I always tremble to follow Jim Peterman.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Classics, Education, Emblems, Ireland, Language & Etymology, Oxford, Poetry, Sewanee, Tennessee | 5 Comments

Colonel Shaw and Some Anniversaries

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Uncomely and Broken

One hundred and fifty years ago this week, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was killed during a desperate assault on South Carolina’s Fort Wagner while leading the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, the first all African-American volunteers corps. Perhaps you know about Shaw … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Education, Family, Military, New England, Poetry, Race, Sewanee, Slavery, Statues & Monuments, The South, Time | 2 Comments