Humanities

The great yogi/poet and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship dramatizes the spiritual journey in his poems. They uplift the mind and direct it toward the Divine Reality or God. This poem offers that same upliftment with the answer to a common question regarding the Divine Reality.

The speaker in Emily Dickinson's "So has a Daisy vanished" wonders if the dead Daisy and other departing plant creatures of the field have gone off to be "with God."

The speaker in "Paramahansa Yogananda’s "One That’s Everywhere" reveals that Divine Omnipresence strives to reveal Itself through all creatures, even the inanimate.

The speaker in Emily Dickinson's "If those I loved were lost" is emphasizing the value she places on her loved ones. She likens their importance to significant events from the community level to the world stage, where bells ring to announce important happenings.

Although a "shadow" takes on the form that is standing between it and a light source, it has no reality of its own; it is only the illusion of a form, an airy nothingness, making it a perfect metaphor for the delusion of Maya, variously called "Satan" and the "Devil" in the West.

Emily Dickinson loved nature, and birds appear often in her poems, her spiritual garden. She also was quite fond of mystery and riddles. This poem offers an accumulation of evidence that she has observed a bird and then poof! one human act and the bird takes wing!

Paramahansa Yogananda’s "The Screen of Life" dramatizes the mayic dance of life with all its many activities and myriad natural objects that continually come and go.

These two Dickinson poems seem to grow out of a singular event on a certain day, likely in early spring, when nature is waking up bringing its flowered beauty to the eyes and ears. No one is better prepared to report on that beauty than Emily Dickinson.

Worldly things are like bubbles in the sea that mysteriously appear, prance around for a brief moment, and are gone.  This speaker dramatizes the bubbles’ brief sojourn but also reveals the solution for the minds and hearts left grieving for natural phenomena that have vanished like those bubbles.

The speaker in Emily Dickinson's "There is a morn by men unseen" is looking at a scene behind the mystic curtain that divides the ordinary world from the extraordinary world, where spirits dwell and have their being.

Nuclear bombs are the most devastating weapons known to man - but sometimes their handlers get a little careless...

How to stay motivated in pursuing the spiritual path remains a challenge. Paramahansa Yogananda’s "When Will He Come?" dramatizes the key to meeting this spiritual challenge.

This poem, "Baffled for just a day or two," is one of Emily Dickinson's most puzzling riddles, and like many of her poems, it begs multiple level interpretations from a flower in her garden to the eruption in a garden mind of a new type of poem.

This inspirational poem,"My Soul Is Marching On," offers a refrain which devotees can chant and feel uplifted in times of lagging interest or the dreaded spiritual dryness.

The speaker in Robert Frost's American-Innovative sonnet reveals his rebellious nature, proclaiming his individual prerogative to venture into the city at night.

In "The Garden of the New Year," the speaker celebrates the prospect of looking forward with enthusiastic preparation to live "life ideally!"

In 12th-century Germany an attempt to mediate a political dispute turned to crap.

Christianity is the most widely practiced religion of Western culture, while Hinduism holds that position in Eastern culture. Judaism and Islam are the major religions of the Middle East.

Emily Dickinson’s "We lose – because we win," exemplifies a short, quirky observation, which makes a statement about human behavior that has become compulsive.

The two epitaphs, "Albert Schirding" and "Jonas Keene," are companionate pieces, with each mentioning the other to contrast their lot in life.

Emily Dickinson's short poem, "A sepal, petal, and a thorn," consists of only one cinquain, but its five lines pack a prayerful punch into its deceptive shortness.

Most nations in history have had a standing military force - but that's not always enough. Fortunately there have always been soldiers-of-fortune willing to fill the gap... even if they are a bit strange.

The speaker in Edgar Lee Masters' "Ida Chicken" complains about corruption and blames the U.S. Constitution as she blurts out a rather treasonous remark about her nation's governing document.

In Emily Dickinson’s "The Gentian weaves her fringes," the speaker metaphorically likens the end of summer to the departure of the soul of a loved one, creating a little funeral drama in a church with a final prayer offering.

Thomas Rhodes' ego caused him to crave power and lord it over his fellow citizens, carving out for himself a widely hated persona.

Emily Dickinson's "I would distal a cup" mimics a toast to a departing friend. It appears in a letter to newspaper editor Samuel Bowles, a family friend.

Explore the transformative impact of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 on America’s expansion and governance. Learn how this landmark legislation shaped statehood, banned slavery, promoted education, and upheld democratic values, setting the foundation for the United States' westward growth.

Tennessee Claflin Shope expounds on the successes he felt he achieved that seemed to escape the villagers who deemed him only a laughable clown.

The Trafficantes rose to become major figures in organized crime in America through all the usual illicit activities of the sub-culture. The U.S. government even sought their help.

The speaker of John Greenleaf Whittier's "The Mystic's Christmas" understands fully the meaning of Christmas and the soul-significance of Christ Consciousness.

Christina Rossetti's "The Thread of Life" features three Petrarchan sonnets, each contributing to the finely constructed dramatization of the theme of soul realization.

They say that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Whether or not you agree with that sentiment, there are certainly individuals whose exploits seem incredibly unrealistic...

In Charlotte Brontë's poem, "On the Death of Anne Brontë," the speaker dramatizes her reaction to the death of her sister, who was so important to her life that she would have died to save her if she could.

Robert Southey Burke has a huge axe to grind with A. D. Blood. After having once admired Blood greatly, Burke came to hate the man and everything that reminded him of him.

This piece portrays a dysfunctional marriage by conflating several sources: the Snow White story, the seven deadly sins, biblical allusion, along with the secularist hatred of Catholicism. The undercurrent of disdain for Catholicism reveals the arrogance of postmodern view of religion.

Not every criminal looks like a villain - and if the history of law is anything to go by, they needn't even be human!

Discover the Articles of Confederation, America’s first governing framework. Learn about their origins, strengths, weaknesses, and how their limitations paved the way for the U.S. Constitution, shaping the foundation of modern American governance.

Karen Connelly's "The Story" exemplifies the godless horror experienced by the individual that has no inkling of his/her true self.

In Edgar Lee Masters' "Rev. Abner Peet," the good reverend is miffed that his lifetime of sermons, contained in an old trunk and purchased at auction by a bar-keeper, were burned like a pile of waste paper.

This is a review of Brandon Sanderson's "Wind and Truth", the fifth book in the epic fantasy series Stormlight Archive. Despite its little imperfections, "Wind and Truth" is 1300+ pages of peak fantasy fiction, a return to form compared to the slight dips of the previous few entries in the series...

Emily Dickinson's speaker declares then elucidates her declaration that having seriously earned, or "merited" pain, is a marvelous, soul-enriching experience, leading to ultimate liberation into Spirit.

"Petit, the Poet" muses on missing out on the life around him, as he fashions a poem that presages the postmoderns while it ticks.

Named for America’s first feminist writer Margaret Fuller, Mrs. Slack laments marriage and motherhood that crushed her dreams of greatness in becoming a famous writer or the next George Eliot.

Abdul Wahab al-Bayati, modernized Arabic poetry; he was one of the first Arab poets to use free verse. He rebelled against political tyranny, suffering many years of exile from his native Iraq. He lived the sentiment stated in, "The Arab leaders are the enemies of their peoples."

More than 2,000 years ago a Roman emperor is said to have hosted a dinner designed to scare the wits out of his opponents.

The character John Horace Burleson is a failed writer, whose ambitions did not match his abilities.

Emily Dickinson’s speaker in "Could live – did live" is speculating about the possible inner motivation that urged on the heart of an individual acquaintance who has now died. He did live, she insists, but what drove him?—This man, who seems to have maintained such an evenminded temperament.

This epitaph engages a number of historical references as the speaker, as the fictional character, Adam Weirauch, reports on his life’s failures. Masters has often successfully engaged this strategy for creating his characters in his American classic, featuring the speaking dead.

The speaker in Emily Dickinson’s "A Day! Help! Help! Another Day!" dramatizes the intensity with which an individual may view the simple act of the opening of a day. She concludes by revealing the superior power of the soul in overcoming all adversity.

"Jim Brown" has decided that all of humanity can be divided into two groups, and he identifies those groups by what they stand "for."