Category Archives: poetry

Advent Aslant: WaitIng without Hope

Posted on December 5, 2024 by Boz

The poetry that followed T. S. Eliot’s 1927 conversion to Anglicanism has informed my life ever since my own similarly startling embrace of that faith 70 years later.  The First World War-inspired despair of such poems as The Waste Land … Continue reading →

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Dream: Advent Word 18

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Boz

Psalm 126 A Song of Ascents 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream. 2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. 3 Then they … Continue reading →

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Paradox: Advent Word 13

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Boz

Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit—Divine Subcommittee for Selection of Advent Words—are having a good chuckle as they watch from on high the consternation of avid participants in their program, all of whom are scratching our heads as we ponder … Continue reading →

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Wait without Hope: Advent Word 9

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Boz

At a loss for words In truth, today’s official Advent Word is herald. However, other than a vain effort at wordplay because of the homophonic association with my father’s name, Harold, I could think of nothing original to offer for this … Continue reading →

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Wind: Advent Word 1

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Boz

Christina Rossetti, the fervent proponent of High Anglicanism who gave us #112 in the Episcopal hymnal, the haunting carol “In the Bleak Midwinter,” also wrote the brief poem below, often anthologized for children: Who has seen the wind? Neither I … Continue reading →

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Wonder: My New Year’s Resolution

Posted on January 1, 2021 by Boz

Among the saddest lines in literature are the ones with which Nick Carraway describes his last glance at the sprawling estate on Long Island from which Gatsby watched the green light on Daisy’s dock: As the moon rose higher the … Continue reading →

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Time: Advent Word 3

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Boz

Today, I will borrow my contribution from”Burnt Norton,” first of the Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot, my acknowledged maestro in all things Anglican. Whenever I ponder the word time, it is this poem that informs my musings: Time present and time past Are … Continue reading →

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Fruition: 2018

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Boz

As I began to ponder the year soon coming to a close, it seemed necessary and fitting that I end the longest hiatus of my blog-writing career with a brief narration of the project–now complete–that has consumed my life for … Continue reading →

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The Mother of Beauty: World War I in Word, Image, and Song

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Boz

Published below is the text of a talk I will give tomorrow to commemorate the Armistice centenary as part of a series of events entitled “FTCC Remembers World War I: 1914-1918.” “Death is the mother of beauty,” wrote Wallace Stevens, … Continue reading →

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One Doomed Youth–and 17 Million More

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Boz

From July to November 1917, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was a shell-shocked second lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, under the care of W. H. R. Rivers at Craiglockhart War Hospital. There, he became close friends with Siegfried Sassoon, who became … Continue reading →

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