In 2 Samuel, King David laments the deaths of Saul and Jonathan: The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places; how are the mighty fallen! The chapter came to mind as I saw the reports about the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, the removal of Robert Milligan from the West… Continue reading
Post Category → Corona Humours
Corona Humours VII – Paracelsus – from alchemy to chymistry
I am not intrinsically interested in health. It is part selfish complacency, but I have always felt that a society morbidly interested in healthcare is one lacking an essential confidence – one that is half-hypochondrical, self-pitying, querulously conscious of growing old while sorely missing old religious consolations. So to me the ongoing Corona saga is… Continue reading
Corona Humours, Part VI
Reflections on mirrors, reflections in mirrors ‘A look of glass stops you And you walk on shaken: was I the perceived?’ John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror Lockdown limps into months, and the mirrors in our home-prisons reflect much more than outside’s taunting sunlight, or the last few days’ huge moon. Every time we… Continue reading
Corona Humours – Part V
20th April, 2020 One of the hardest working words of the moment is ‘unprecedented’. The economic toll levied by Corona can certainly be seen as unprecedented. But the disease itself has had all too many predecessors. Over tragic millennia, waves of anthrax, bubonic plague, diphtheria, dysentery, malaria, measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, typhoid, typhus, whooping cough,… Continue reading
Corona Humours – Part IV
15th April 2020 “The firmament is blue forever, and the Earth Will long stand firm, and bloom in spring. But, man, how long will you live?” Li Bai, The Chinese Flute: Drinking Song of the Sorrow of the Earth Classical music fans may recognize the 8th century poet’s words as forming part of the lyric… Continue reading
Corona Humours – Part III
10th April 2020 An estimated 24 million Britons – 80% of the TV audience – watched the Queen deliver a four-minute special message on the 5th of April. This is even though what she was going to say could have been predicted almost literally. The Queen’s speeches are noted for bland carefulness; when you have… Continue reading
Corona Humours II
2nd April 2020 ‘He that hath ears to hear, let him hear’ Matthew, 11: 15 The lockdown and consequent grounding of aircraft, lessening of traffic, and closure of factories has made people much more conscious of the daily noises they do hear. Many of these are commonplace – cattle, trees, rain, movements in water, house… Continue reading
Corona Humours
La Peste, as seen from Lincolnshire 30th March, 2020 Excited birds, glossy rabbits, bee queens in quest of nests, marsh marigolds divulging gold, spawn bulging in ponds, clear skies and sunshine, new leaves on trees, white bloom on blackthorn, clean sands and crisp seas unfurling to illimitable distance… …and bitter winds from the east, freezing… Continue reading