Essays
on Poetry
Anne Boleyn wasn’t just a queen—she was a literary device, a poetic muse, and a political scapegoat wrapped in a flirtatious smile. In this essay, we explore how courtly poetry in Tudor England became a playground for ambition, desire, and manipulation—and how Anne, with her wit and daring, found herself both idolized and destroyed by the very verses she inspired. It’s love poetry with a body count.
After losing all four daughters in a shipwreck, Horatio Spafford penned one of history’s most enduring hymns. But his story didn’t end there. From unimaginable grief rose a legacy of compassion that continues to impact lives across the world. This episode dives deep into the heartbreak, resilience, and enduring faith that shaped “It Is Well With My Soul.”
In a world obsessed with fitting in, Edgar Allan Poe gave us a poem that embraces the opposite. Alone is more than just brooding lines and sad-boy energy—it’s a brutally honest look at what it means to live on the edges of experience. In this essay, we unpack the poem’s haunting imagery, its autobiographical layers, and how Poe’s outsider voice still resonates with anyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t quite belong… even under a blue sky.
There’s a parallel universe made entirely of forgotten umbrellas — coffee shops and buses are just the portals. We abandon them like we abandon old friends, resolutions, and regrettable fashion choices the moment the storm passes.
Not every day needs to be profound. Sometimes, quiet moments reveal more about who we are than all the noise we chase.
All Entries
in the notebook
Romanticism gave us beauty, emotion, and soul—but also blurred the line between feeling and truth. In this essay, we confront its legacy head-on. From lyrical longing to moral relativism, this is the reckoning of a movement that still echoes through our culture, our art, and our identities. Strap in. We’re going deep.
There’s a parallel universe made entirely of forgotten umbrellas — coffee shops and buses are just the portals. We abandon them like we abandon old friends, resolutions, and regrettable fashion choices the moment the storm passes.
Anne Boleyn wasn’t just a queen—she was a literary device, a poetic muse, and a political scapegoat wrapped in a flirtatious smile. In this essay, we explore how courtly poetry in Tudor England became a playground for ambition, desire, and manipulation—and how Anne, with her wit and daring, found herself both idolized and destroyed by the very verses she inspired. It’s love poetry with a body count.
Not every day needs to be profound. Sometimes, quiet moments reveal more about who we are than all the noise we chase.
Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,As the swift seasons roll!Leave thy low-vaulted past!Let each new temple, nobler than the last,Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,Till thou at length art free,Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!...
After losing all four daughters in a shipwreck, Horatio Spafford penned one of history’s most enduring hymns. But his story didn’t end there. From unimaginable grief rose a legacy of compassion that continues to impact lives across the world. This episode dives deep into the heartbreak, resilience, and enduring faith that shaped “It Is Well With My Soul.”
As an arrogant and ignorant adolescent and teen, I disdained many of the fine arts, or at least large portions of them. It wasn’t because I had not been exposed to them; perhaps my rejection was based more upon the fact that I had been exposed to them. You know,...
This isn’t your fireworks-and-flag-waving Fourth of July poem. A Fire in the Throat of July explores the American Revolution not as a flawless triumph, but as a messy, powerful reckoning—a nation born from ideals it struggled to meet, and a fire still burning through generations. For those craving nuance with their liberty, this one’s for you.
In a world obsessed with fitting in, Edgar Allan Poe gave us a poem that embraces the opposite. Alone is more than just brooding lines and sad-boy energy—it’s a brutally honest look at what it means to live on the edges of experience. In this essay, we unpack the poem’s haunting imagery, its autobiographical layers, and how Poe’s outsider voice still resonates with anyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t quite belong… even under a blue sky.
Funnel cake coma,screaming child kicks my kneecap—Mickey owes me bail. Haikus are like amusement parks — they look like fun to the ignorant and uninformed. But in reality, they are overrated, overpriced, and ridiculous…but somehow fun. Loop-de-loop of death,my hotdog...
This isn’t your average moonlit sonnet. This is poetry with a pulse in the dark—where the sublime meets the sinister and the soul gazes into its own abyss. In this deep dive into Dark Romanticism, we explore the obsession with death, madness, and the unhinged beauty of the human mind. Expect Gothic drama, self-destructive musings, and a few candles flickering ominously in the background.
Swooning over a stranger? Writing deathbed love poems before the second date? Welcome to Romanticism in full melodramatic bloom. This essay dives into the emotional fever dream of Romantic poetry—complete with full-length examples from the likes of Byron, Shelley, and Moore—and explores why these over-the-top declarations of passion still hit us right in the heart… even if we also kind of want to mock them.
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