Lately, but especially today, it’s hard for me not to think of America as one big, messy, Ozymandian work. She is mighty still; still I despair…
WORK
“America”
Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate,
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
—Claude McKay (from Liberator, 1921)
WORD
thrasonic. adjective. Boastful; a braggart; vainglorious. Originates from Thraso, the bragging soldier in Terence’s comedy The Eunuchus.
“…our enemies have filled Europe with Thrasonic accounts of victories they had never won and conquests they were fated never to make.” (Thomas Jefferson, in a letter)
“There are plenty of examples of men (even great ones) who abuse their learning to serve their passions, one singing his foolish loves, another using flattery to win favour, a third hitting back with his pen when provoked by insult, a fourth blowing his own trumpet and outdoing Thraso or Pyrgopolynices in singing his own praises.” (Erasmus, in a letter)
WEB
American Empire. A video documenting [many places around the globe that are part of the United States (more or less).
“America, are you not yet mythic enough for Walt Whitman?” An Open Letter to America that resonates with me even though the specifics of some of that particular tide have turned in the past decade.
Why, exactly, did a Russian composer’s song about Russia’s victory over the French become the de facto Independence Day fireworks standard? Apparently we have the Boston Pops to thank.
Check out some crazy displays of daylight fireworks. Someone should be doing this in Alaska.
If even that’s too serious, there’s always Portraits of Presidents with Boob Faces.
As always, I welcome comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback and all manner of what-have-you. Just press ‘Reply’ or mail to clippings@katexic.com
