The great English writers of the Elizabethan era and the 17th century owed a great deal to the Renascence of classical learning, which had taken place in Italy. One aspect of this Renaissance, however, involved an attempt to revive ancient paganism or rather anti-Christian neo-paganism.
Of the nearly six hundred weekly posts I have published here since this site was launched, I note that not one delved into what is called natural history.
Former managing editor Katherine Dalton Boyer interviews her former boss on the days before Rockford, in this the first part of a series.
Isaac Newton was deservedly knighted for his great accomplishments, but it is a mistake to minimize either his occult interests or his bad character.
This is the first section of the first part of a series of articles on the central significance of occultism . Like many of the fathers of modern science and Enlightenment–René Descartes, Francis Bacon, Elias Ashmole, and Robert Boyle–Isaac Newton was a devoted alchemist and occultist.
Fleming and Easton enjoy a sharp exchange on the greedy Plutocrats who own–and fund–the American government.
Ezra Pound’s Hugh Selwyn Mauberley Ode is one of the masterpieces of 20th century English/American verse. Everything in the poem is difficult and elusive. The subtitle in French shows it is a kind of funeral homage to Pound himself, who features in the poem partly as Mauberley, a gentle disciple of the 1890’s who has to confront the realities of the literature business in London.
Gentle reader, please bear with me. I want to make one simple point, but making it requires a longish introduction.
This decidedly Medievalizing poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti s probably the best-known example of Pre-Raphaelite poetry. The P-R Brotherhood was a group of painters who challenged the Royal Academy by insisting on natural light, painting from nature, and meticulous care. They quite rightly deplored the excessive sentimentality and melodrama that had dominated painting since the early days of the Italian Manerists.
Language in the Republic of Letters and gibberish in the Empire of Propaganda
