The appearance of perfection:
Chiaroscuro come to an August day
Wafted by van Rijn.
Against the waving sky is the great tree
Icon for what, I do not wish to know.
Icon for what I do not wish to know.
What I cannot defeat I will to learn to meet.
Measure with level gaze on ordained ground;
Parry, attack and parry, sabers clanging
Along the warning lines.
This shadow fencer is unwearying
Nor will his blade aim for my side or arm:
It is heart’s blood he seeks.
So be it. This is an honorable stain
And I may give in kind.
Five points in all—
A venerable number.
Right deep I bear these wounds into the sun
And lean against the tree.
And lean against the tree.
—Myrna Reid
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
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…
Job and Her
It is said that Job lost everything, but she has lost more. All her possessions—the money, the…
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…
