Fireside Poems

Longfellow transforms his grief for the death of his wife Fanny into a poem of great solace.

The poet Longfellow encourages us to "be up and doing"; to be here now and act in the present.

"The Oxen" by Thomas Hardy, a poem about faith in the modern world, centered on the folk tradition that on Christmas Eve oxen kneel in their pens.

A tribute to the medical profession--the nurses, doctors, attendants, and other caregivers who devote their lives, often heroically, to healing the sick.

A poem of night's romantic adventure by Edna St. Vincent Millay, written in 1919. The jazz-age life of post-war Greenwich village and Manhattan.

A sonnet in which Paolo, forever with Francesca in the second circle of Hell because of their innocent adultery, speaks to Francesca, telling her that he doesn't regret either their kiss or their murder and does not blame God for their punishment, as he has allowed them together for all eternity, even if they are in the infernal whirlwind of sinful passion.

The poet's celebration of pumpkins, pumpkin pie, and Thanksgiving, including his reminiscence of his rural childhood.

Stories of the Milky Way galaxy. Longfellow's mysticism. Cultural traditions. Poetry. Universals and cultures.

Covid pastimes. Evenings at home. The pleasure of friends and visitors. Sewing, knitting, quilting.

Thou, too, sail on O Ship of State . . .