Category Archives: Poetry and Death

Philip Appleman Has Died

I just discovered that Philip D. Appleman (1926 – 2020) died last year. He was an American poet and Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. I first became acquainted with him in graduate school when I read his edited collection, Darwin (Norton Critical Editions), a classic in the field. He was survived by Majorie, his wife of almost 67 years, but she died earlier this year. Continue reading Philip Appleman Has Died

Summary of Thomas Gray’s: “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”

Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is one of “the best-known and best-loved poems in the English.” For each of its stanzas, I provide [in brackets] a brief explanation of its meaning which may not be clear to a modern ear. Continue reading Summary of Thomas Gray’s: “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”