Poor Judd Is Out Poor Judd Is Out
With apologies to Rogers & Hammerstein.
Feb 18, 2009 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Puzzle No. 3159 Puzzle No. 3159
ACROSS
1 Walks rather aimlessly, with the wrong pair in the wrong sets. (8)
Feb 18, 2009 / Frank W. Lewis
Four-Syllable Lines (Monody) Four-Syllable Lines (Monody)
Sweet unrest still Wood harsh dismal Slope of a hill Darkening air She's the target Force-drift and thrown Dismissed rash tear I would, can, did Slip in a hole Now stab butt out Doting body Been thrown below She's the it girl Her epic dust
Feb 18, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Julie Carr
Poem Poem
(circa 1185) I love the jubilance of springtime When leaves and flowers burgeon forth, And I exult in the mirth of bird songs Resounding through the woods; And I relish seeing the meadows Adorned with tents and pavilions; And great is my happiness When the fields are packed With armored knights and horses. And I thrill at the sight of scouts Forcing men and women to flee with their belongings; And gladness fills me when they are chased By a dense throng of armed men; And my heart soars When I behold mighty castles under siege As their ramparts crumble and collapse With troops massed at the edge of the moat And strong, solid barriers Hemming in the target on all sides. And I am likewise overjoyed When a baron leads the assault, Mounted on his horse, armed and unafraid, Thus giving strength to his men Through his courage and valor. And once the battle has begun Each of them should be prepared To follow him readily, For no man can be a man Until he has delivered and received Blow upon blow. In the thick of combat we will see Maces, swords, shields, and many-colored helmets Split and shattered, And hordes of vassals striking in all directions As the horses of the dead and wounded Wander aimlessly around the field. And once the fighting starts Let every well-born man think only of breaking Heads and arms, for better to be dead Than alive and defeated. I tell you that eating, drinking, and sleeping Give me less pleasure than hearing the shout Of "Charge!" from both sides, and hearing Cries of "Help! Help!," and seeing The great and the ungreat fall together On the grass and in the ditches, and seeing Corpses with the tips of broken, streamered lances Jutting from their sides. Barons, better to pawn Your castles, towns, and cities Than to give up making war. (Translated from the Provençal by Paul Auster)
Feb 18, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Bertran de Born
Tell The Nation Tell The Nation
In big ways and small, the recession is having an impact on our daily lives. Help The Nation track the changes.
Feb 18, 2009 / The Editors
Around The Nation Around The Nation
It's the middle of another week, and still no Senator from Minnesota.John Nichols has the latest onthe GOP's Minnesota machinations here. As I've done the past couple ofweeks, I ...
Feb 18, 2009 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Will You Go Broke to Keep Your House? Will You Go Broke to Keep Your House?
Will Obama's $75 billion homeowner bailout plan work? Fair housing activists Sarah Ludwig, Paul Leonard and others discuss the foreclosure crisis.
Feb 18, 2009 / GRITtv
Good Money After Bad Good Money After Bad
Obama's stimulus bill is far too modest to arrest an economy in free fall. But if it were up to the GOP, which largely created the mess, we'd be doing nothing at all.
Feb 18, 2009 / Column / Robert Scheer
Don’t Bleed Resources in Afghanistan Don’t Bleed Resources in Afghanistan
Today, President Obama announced the deployment of 17,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan. Two decades and two days after the Soviet army withdrew from its disastrous occupa...
Feb 17, 2009 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Stop the Looting of Social Security Stop the Looting of Social Security
The Nation's William Greider warns that if progressives don't engage with President Obama more, forces advocating for 'entitlement reform' will gut social security.
Feb 17, 2009 / Brett Story