Author Archives: Houyhnhnm

Assonance in Catullus and Sister Sledge

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

Catullus (poem XI): Furi et Aureli comites Catulli sive in extremos penetrabit Indos litus ut longe resonante Eoa tunditur unda “resonante Eoa” (“with dawn re-echoing”) has that amazing re-echoing vowel sequence (e-o-a) which Michael Brandon showed me all those years … Continue reading →

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A Riddle

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

Robert Herrick: “By day we live as one; by night we’re hurled, In dreams, each one, into a several world.” So Herrick believes, or poetically asserts, that our dream lives are particularly and absolutely individual, that, despite the presence, in … Continue reading →

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President Oidipous

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

My children, last in the long line of Kadmos’ descendants, Why have you gathered here before me? What help do you want? The whole city stinks of incense; The whole city rings with chants and prayers. So, my children, I, … Continue reading →

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“A Time for Silence” by Patrick Leigh Fermor

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

A careful and honest writer, Leigh Fermor has above all a serious concern to communicate the truth both of what he observes and of his reactions to it. He’s most interesting and important when describing his first Benedictine experience – … Continue reading →

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“The Death of Socrates” by Emily Wilson

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

Thoughts ad loc.: 29 Protagoras began a book with “I have no way of knowing either that the gods exist, or that they do not exist” 30f αθεος normally meant ‘hated by the gods’ 48 The idea that all virtue … Continue reading →

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“The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ”, by Philip Pullman

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

A bit of a surprise. Some disappointingnesses: why does Pullman “explain” the miracles (e.g. the Feeding of the Five Thousand a result of sudden sharing, and the Resurrection… Well, I’ll try and get on to that later)? I did Scripture … Continue reading →

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Superstition and Nihilism

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

Superstition implies a belief that the physical world has meaning: something knows you chose not to carry a brolly, and decided for that reason to make it rain. The levers of the cosmos respond to the light touch of your … Continue reading →

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“Of Truth” by Francis Bacon

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

A brief essay on the importance of truth to man, religiously and philosophically. One of the Fathers called Poesy: “vinum daemonum, because it filleth the imagination”. Replacing contemplation of the Divine, presumably. Montaigne: “to say that a man lieth, is … Continue reading →

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“Spies of the Balkans” by Alan Furst

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

[SPOILER ALERT] Furst’s hero Zannis is hard-working, principled, hunky, honest, pragmatic, successful, respected by Greek and foreigner, and human, yet (significant to our final inability to fuse with him) unflawed. I think it’s the fact that he actually gets away … Continue reading →

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Ingreeds

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

Sloanes in Tesco’s: “We’ll buy cheap ingreeds.”

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