From orchards, and gardens, and house I move on,
From porcelain and goblets engraved by the potter,
On to the final rites, much like the swan
Whose death song is sung by Meander’s water.
It’s done. I’ve unraveled the thread of my fate—
I have lived. My name holds its old reputation;
Far from the snares of the clever and great,
My pen rises skyward, a new constellation.
Happy is he who never existed,
Happier he who returns to nil
As he was before, and happier still
Who sits beside Jesus”an angel enlisted,
Free from this body and predestined bond,
A spirit, no destiny but the beyond.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Forget Odysseus. Aeneas Is the True American Hero.
Who is our Odysseus? Or more precisely, who is the most Odyssean hero of American film? Matt…
Meet the Post-Religious Right
There have been many books written about the online right and the Trump movement, most by people…
Candace Owens and the Sin of Anti-Semitism
According to the online Encyclopedia Britannica, Sir Moses Montefiore (1784–1885) was “an Italian-born businessman who was noted…
