I've watched the BBC all day, when not following BBC coverage online, and on the radio. The Royal Wedding was a smashing success: weather, dressmaker, kiss, and cartwheeling verger all being splendid. People showed up (a million) and were patriotic and happy. There has been a lot of nonsense from the media, mostly tea-leaves reading regarding the future of the Monarchy. Apparently, the use of Aston Martins, chocolate cakes, etc., are portents of a renewed modernity in the land. What hasn't been discussed (until 23:00 on Newsnight, briefly) is the elephant in the room - Anglicanism. While a Catholic myself, I am a former Anglican, and was deeply impressed by the beauty, seriousness, and moral force of the Christian sacrament of marriage - for most of the key hour of today's wedding took place in a house of God, featured sermons, readings, and hymns, and featured a sacred vow. This extraordinary showcasing of the English Faith was admirable, impressive, and reassuring - for a day, it seemed, there was a kingdom on earth as in heaven. The absence of any reflection on this core aspect of the wedding - the wedding itself (separate from the surface of clothing and pomp) - is a failure of Britain's secular media to appreciate, and observe, and report upon, what was staring it in the face. Forget a renewal of the Monarchy. Today's marriage renewed, in front of billions around the world, the significance of religion in the UK.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind ...
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good."
- Nancy
Yes, I was very impressed by both Rowan Williams and Richard Chartres. As a jaded Anglican myself, it made me appreciate that the Church of England isn't quite dead yet.
Best wishes from Simon