Papers by Gregory Dowling
The essay examines Seamus Heaney’s poem “Miracle”, from his last collection Human Chain. This poe... more The essay examines Seamus Heaney’s poem “Miracle”, from his last collection Human Chain. This poem concerns the miraculous healing of the man with palsy, as described in the Gospels of St Luke and St Mark. The focus, however, is neither on the divine healer nor on the invalid, but on those who helped the sick man reach Jesus, by lowering him through a skylight in the roof. It can be considered an expression of gratitude to all those who helped the poet himself, after his debilitating stroke in 2006. The essay connects “Miracle” with other poems in which Heaney uses the imagery of “tilting” and that of opened roofs in order to express a renewed sense of wonder.
The Chesterton Review, 2023
The essay aims to offer a survey of the movement known as New Formalism, asking why it arose (or,... more The essay aims to offer a survey of the movement known as New Formalism, asking why it arose (or, at least, was seen by some as arising) in the American poetry world in the late twentieth century. The hostility to traditional poetic forms can be considered a specifically American phenomenon, going back, perhaps, to the early supporters of Whitman. For some critics and poets metrical forms came to be associated with a European heritage that was to be shaken off. Free verse was thus taken to be the natural poetic means for a free country and during the middle decades of the century those poets who still wrote in form were to a certain extent marginalised. New Formalism was therefore a reaction to this tendency. The essay examines the anthologies of the 1980s and 1990s that first gave prominence to the movement and discusses some of the polemical essays that were written in the same years. In conclusion, the essay attempts a general assessment of the major achievements of poets associated with the New Formalism.
The Byron Journal, Jun 1, 2023
Oltreoceano, Jan 29, 2022
Although Robert Frost's poetry recounts practical activities (mowing, apple-picking…), the charac... more Although Robert Frost's poetry recounts practical activities (mowing, apple-picking…), the characters often indulge in utopian dreams, many of them based on the American notion that a better future lies on the other side of the hill (or fence). This essay explores the clash between utopian visions and harsh realities that characterises his poetry.
Byron's relationship with Italian poetry has been the subject of much scholarly study, including ... more Byron's relationship with Italian poetry has been the subject of much scholarly study, including book-length works by Peter Vassallo and Peter Cochran. His interest in Dante's poetry has naturally come under close scrutiny and I owe a great debt to those who have gone before me in exploring this field. My intention here is to make some specific observations on the way Dante is brought into the Byronic world, both by direct translation but perhaps more importantly by self-identification. But I would also like to explore the way this cross-cultural engagement was fruitfully developed by a writer from the other side of the planet, the Australian poet A. D. Hope, who carried on a dialogue with both Dante and Byron in his Letter from Italy, written in the 1950s. Of course, the influence of Dante on Byron was nothing like as important as that of Pulci, Berni or Casti, or even that of Ariosto and Tasso. These poets all wrote in ottava rima and no-one is going to claim that The Prophecy of Dante is as important a poem as Don Juan. The discovery of terza rima did not revolutionize Byron's poetry, as did that of ottava rima. Nonetheless, his interest in Dante's form is worth studying, even if only as a "metrical experiment," to use the definition he himself gave in the Preface to The Prophecy. The experiment was to be taken up by Shelley, with far greater success; the "Ode to the West Wind" and "The Triumph of Life" are among his greatest works. Both poets translated passages from Dante; Shelley did versions of the sonnet to Guido Calvacanti, the first Canzone from the Convito, the section on Matilda in Canto 28 of Purgatorio, and he also corrected a translation by Medwin of the Ugolino canto in the Inferno. Byron translated part of Canto 5 of the Inferno, at the behest of Teresa. However, his interest in this canto actually preceded his arrival in Italy.
Annali di Ca' Foscari, 2009
Il saggio considera la questione dell’impegno politico del teatro di Tom Stoppard. All’inizio il ... more Il saggio considera la questione dell’impegno politico del teatro di Tom Stoppard. All’inizio il commediografo fu generalmente considerato dalla critica come un autore completamente apolitico, interessato più allo stile che alle implicazioni sociali o politiche delle sue trame. Nelle prime commedie il tema è spesso la ricerca dell’ordine in un mondo apparentemente governato dal caso. Gradualmente, però, da Travesties in poi, l’attenzione viene sempre più rivolta al ruolo dell’artista in un mondo caotico—e quindi anche alla legittimità della scelta di un disimpegno Wildeano. Questo dibattito diventa cruciale nei drammi degli anni Settanta che trattano la questione dei diritti umani nell’Europea orientale ed è anche uno degli elementi centrali nelle commedie “realistiche” come Night and Day e The Real Thing. Nel teatro più recente, da Arcadia in poi, i famosi dibattiti Stoppardiani sono diventati sempre più complessi, coinvolgendo temi e questioni che abbracciano vari ambiti del sapere umano, come la letteratura, la scienza post-Einsteiniana, la filosofia e la politica. Il saggio si conclude con alcune riflessioni sull’ultima commedia di Stoppard, Rock ’n’ Roll, che tratta di nuovo l’argomento del rapporto tra l’arte e la politica, e sembra rivalutare la figura dell’artista disimpegnato, essendo l’indifferenza la reazione più invisa al potere totalitario.
The Wallace Stevens Journal, 2017
The Chesterton Review, 2013
ABSTRACT Although Father Brown seems to be the complete antithesis of Sherlock Holmes as a detect... more ABSTRACT Although Father Brown seems to be the complete antithesis of Sherlock Holmes as a detective, Chesterton in fact owed a great debt to Conan Doyle's creation. The essay studies Chesterton's various writings on the detective-story genre and shows how in his hands it becomes a means to profound moral insights.
Uploads
Papers by Gregory Dowling