We live in a post-modernist world and its values are everywhere around us; and everywhere these values are almost largely unexamined, and because we have little to contrast our present state with we fail to see how lamentable and poor we are. There is a deep materialism running through society which deprives people of theContinue reading “Poetry and the Muses Part 1”
Tag Archives: Shakespeare
Sonnets for Christ the King, Joseph Charles Mackenzie: Review
It was Stephen Fry who said of the sonnet: “The ability to write them fluently was, and to some extent still is, considered the true mark of the poet”. How true; to expect each poet to write an epic is too much; and to be able to write a haiku is too trivial; and toContinue reading “Sonnets for Christ the King, Joseph Charles Mackenzie: Review”
To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme?
Imagine that you were lost in a wilderness and had to find your way out. Fortunately, you have with you a number of things, or tools if you will. In the first instance you have a kitbag, which is itself useful. Within it are various articles: a bottle of water, a knife, fork and spoon,Continue reading “To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme?”
The Beautiful Disgrace of Burn’s Night
Sometimes one has to admit that something so beautiful can be a disgrace. We have just passed just such a moment for the English. I am referring to Burn’s Night, of course, that marvellous invention of the Scots, celebrated on the 25thJanuary! To digress a moment, I think it would be true to say thatContinue reading “The Beautiful Disgrace of Burn’s Night”
Homer’s Odyssey and Personal Development
‘Narrative may be regarded as a primary act of mind’, as someone once said, and so it proves true in all great stories: they tell us the primary truths about ourselves, and often what seems to be only an objective narrative is also an internal account of what is going on in the soul ofContinue reading “Homer’s Odyssey and Personal Development”
Acorn to Oak
I was recently invited to address over 100 Sixth Formers about motivation and their careers. It’s a wonderful opportunity and it’s great to not talk to business people sometimes, and have an entirely fresh audience – at 17 years old, very fresh! As I scanned their ranks I could see the overwhelming problem: just howContinue reading “Acorn to Oak”
The Mapping Motivation Series 