The world that welcomed the divorce
Of word and thing is now outmoded.
The two are one again. The world
Of their new marriage has exploded.
And in the aftermath we watch
As brilliant particles of truth,
Like stars that tell us where we are,
Bring our gaze back down to earth.
Words and their meanings now adhere
To eyelash, fingernail, and throat,
And travel through the dark canals
Inside us. All that was remote
And held at arm’s length from its name
Has found a place upon the tongue.
The words, though new to us, are old
Words to an even older song.
How did it go? In every name
The letters bring a soul to life.
In every soul a world is coiled
Around a staff of joy and grief.
And every grief renews the bond
Between the body and the soul.
And every joy thrills with the fear
Of shattering what had been whole.
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
New Founders Wanted
It’s now 250 years since America declared her independence and embarked on the experiment of fashioning a…
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…
