A fortieth birthday poem to myself by Sarah Ruden

Poems

May 2003

A fortieth birthday poem to myself

by Sarah Ruden

Burke

was right!

Support The
New Criterion

What a long way my children have to go
To come from me. About them, all I know

Is that odd journey. Through a crowding wind
They bike to church. They queue for an exam.

They lurch on bumping airline aisles. They pace
Museums, tap the car to work, and race

To elevators. I have not been kind.
From a great distance I have called behind.

Children are weak and naked—so I hear—
Yet these exacting years they must endure

And trust that they will meet me in some green
Home neither they nor I have ever seen.

Sarah Ruden's translation of The Aeneid was published by Yale University Press earlier this year.

Webcasts

Anthony Daniels on the Euro Crisis
The New Criterion author Anthony Daniels delivers remarks in New York City about the "European experiment." With an introduction by editor Roger Kimball. Recorded on November 30, 2011.

Andrew C. McCarthy: The Muslim Threat
The New Criterion contributor Andrew C. McCarthy delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the threat of Islamism to the United States. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces McCarthy to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.

Roger Kimball: The Grim Future of Statism
The New Criterion editor Roger Kimball delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the future of statism and The New Criterion's 30th anniversary. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces Roger Kimball to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.

Weblog

Further Studies in Gaffe-ology

by James Bowman

Feb 07, 2012 05:46 PM

Charles Murray's "Fishtown" in popular culture

by Emily Esfahani Smith

Feb 07, 2012 11:53 AM

Must-Read Alert: Andrew Roberts in demolition mode

by Roger Kimball

Feb 02, 2012 02:22 PM

The New Criterion

Poems

Webcasts

RSS feeds