Things by Sarah Ruden - The New Criterion

Poems

June 2000

Things

Burke

was right!

I have respect for bricks and kitchen shelves:
So patient, asking nothing for themselves.
I never heard one shout in someone’s face,
Or mutter, “Um, excuse me—that’s my place.”

I think I’d make a better garden spade
Than person. Mine is conscientious, staid
And competent. Nobody ever said
To it, “Do as you like—you always did.”

The centuries this bottle cap could last!—
When I am centuries within the past.
Shoes, tires could crush it, but it is too strong
To think of getting crushed until it’s gone.

These objects really should be using me
With their pure-hearted, calm sobriety.
What can I do with them? And who am I
To make then watch me paint my nails and cry?

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.

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