Areopagus Volume LXXXVII Welcome one and all to the eighty seventh volume of the Areopagus. Last time we began with a message from my patrons at Write of Passage — I told you about Writing Examples, their newsletter dedicated to wordsmithing. The link I included in that email was broken. Those who contacted me I gave the working link, but I include it again here for those who did not. If you'd like to subscribe to Writing Examples, click here. And, for a reminder of what it's all about: Every...
20 days ago • 23 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXXVI Welcome one and all to the eighty sixth volume of the Areopagus. We begin with a message from my patrons at Write of Passage. They have launched a rather exciting newsletter called Writing Examples. If you enjoy the Areopagus then you shall certainly enjoy Writing Examples also. Here is how they describe it: One way to become a better communicator is by learning from the greats. Or, in David Perell's words, to “imitate, then innovate.” Every Wednesday, we focus on one...
about 1 month ago • 22 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXXV Welcome one and all to the eighty fifth volume of the Areopagus. How to begin? With something I saw recently — a lonesome tendril of flowers on a brick wall, sparkling in the rain: What does it mean? Whatsoever you choose. But mean something I am sure it does. Let the seven short lessons commence... I - Classical Music Passa la nave Adrian Willaert (1559) Performed by The Vienna Recorder EnsembleShip on Stormy Seas by Ivan Aivazovsky (1850) What a gorgeously atmospheric...
about 1 month ago • 19 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXXIV Welcome one and all to the eighty fourth volume of the Areopagus. There was no instalment last week — life intervened! But we return, a fortnight later, and as I look at the Moon it is the 16th century poet Pierre de Ronsard who comes to mind: Thou knowest, Moon, the bitter power of Love;’Tis told how shepherd Pan found ways to move,For little price, thy heart; and of your grace,Sweet stars, be kind to this not alien fire,Because on earth ye did not scorn...
about 2 months ago • 21 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXXIII Welcome one and all to the eighty third volume of the Areopagus. During a rather comical encounter with an amphibian today, I remembered that the great and witty poet Kobayashi Issa wrote hundreds of haikus about the creeping creatures of the world. Here is one of them: A huge frog and I / staring at each other / neither of us moves I could not have put it better! But the frog I had to leave, for an Areopagus demanded to be written, and written it has been... I -...
2 months ago • 21 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXXII Welcome one and all to the eighty second volume of the Areopagus. Last week's missive was rather a wordy affair — which is no bad thing from time to time! But, in the interests of that very time, this week's Areopagus shall be less copious in scope. Or, as Odin says in the Hávamál: The babbling tongue, if a bridle it find not,Oft for itself sings ill. So, let a bridled instalment of the Areopagus commence! I - Classical Music Chansons Grises — 5: L'heure exquise...
2 months ago • 20 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXXI Welcome one and all to the eighty first volume of the Areopagus. Yesterday I was caught up in a shattering thunderstorm the like of which I haven't seen for years. But "seen" is almost the wrong word; I felt the thunder shaking the earth, the skies, and my bones. The great Epicurean poet Lucretius wrote about such storms over two thousand years ago — it was his words that came to mind: Lest, perchance,Concerning these affairs thou ponderestIn silent meditation, let me...
3 months ago • 26 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXX Welcome one and all to the eightieth volume of the Areopagus. No poetry to sing us in this week, neither any timely musing nor comment on the weather — the Areopagus begins at once! I - Classical Music Zadok the Priest & the Champions League Anthem George-Frederick Handel (1727) & Tony Britten (1992) Imagine you have just been asked to write an "anthem" for the world's most prestigious club football competition, one with a long and storied history, watched by millions of...
3 months ago • 23 min read
Areopagus Volume LXXIX Welcome one and all to the seventy ninth volume of the Areopagus. May soon approaches — let us make the most of these final April days while we can! But, I wonder, what is the spirit of April? TS Eliot took a rather dim view of things: April is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain. While Geoffrey Chaucer, six centuries earlier, found in April the beginning of a year's joy: Whan that Aprill...
3 months ago • 17 min read
