Aesthetics Ancient and Modern

This month, I have a genuine handful of prose to share with readers, all of which explores the connection between the written word and the Eternal Word, the splendor of form which is beauty and the Divine Beauty. In these essays I explore Thomas Aquinas and T.S. Eliot; the classical and Catholic poetic tradition from Homer to yours truly; the aesthetics of witness in the Acts of the Apostles; and the weird imagination of Marly Youmans.

The fifth addition this month is my contribution to Robert George's new project: Fidelity Month. Let us all take time this June, that month when the tyrannical regime of abortion was at last overturned in our country, to renew our commitment of faithfulness to God, to family, to country . . . and to our local communities. I'll be revisiting the great good of commitment to one's place in an upcoming issue of First Things, but this essay touches on one of the major themes. In the meantime, I hope that everyone will continue to learn that living in a smaller place is to live in a bigger world, because things are always much larger on the inside than on the outside. We can only see this, however, if we study them with patience and stability.

Check back here often. I will have a review of Zina Hitz's new book, an essay on Richard Wilbur and the desolation of contemporary poetry, as well as new poems from my own hand, among other things, in the coming monthly newsletters.

"The First Metaphysical Poet"

"Fidelity to Place"

"The Reclaiming of a Great Tradition"

"How the Apostles Spoke of the Beauty of Christ"

"The Rebirth of Wonder"