Aristotle noted that art was a more reliable portrait of what happens than history. History is both an interpretation and tied to the particular; art in turn speaks to the timeless, universal movements of history and embodies the permutations of the human animal.
These three portraits in poetry will serve as the springboard for our conversation:
- T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
- Jon Stallworthy’s “Letter from Berlin”
- Sharon Olds’ “I Go Back to May, 1937”
By witnessing the struggles of others, we gain pointers, insights, even strategies to address our own difficulties. In this workshop, we will examine three reports from the trenches, the never-ending wins and losses in the battle to survive, even make sense of one’s life.
