When data started to accumulate,
we didn’t think the end would be so tragic.
Facts were such fun, we could eliminate
non-facts. And so we threw away the magic,
the charms, the spells, the powers that removed
all obstacles, the sacred images
that won our wars, brought lover to beloved.
Then we threw out the demigods, the muse,
the spirits in the fountains, planets, trees,
followed by symbols, sacraments—what use
did modern myth-free mortals have for these?
Our reason set no limit to our pride.
Did we kill God, or was it suicide?
Unmaking Machiavelli’s Modernity
In his Apologia ad Carolum Quintum, English cardinal Reginald Pole claimed that Thomas Cromwell told him in…
Wendell Berry’s Eternal Story
Ten years ago, an editor at Penguin approached me to ask if I would like to edit…
Winners of the Third Annual First Things Poetry Prize
We are pleased to announce the winners of the third annual First Things Poetry Prize. Forester McClatchey…