I cannot stop thinking of 1939, when everyone could see the war coming and no one, it seemed, could do anything to stop it. Contemplating the impending catastrophe, W. H. Auden wrote, In the nightmare of the dark All the dogs of Europe bark, And the living nations wait, Each sequestered in its hate; Intellectual disgrace Stares from every human face And the seas of pity lie Locked and frozen in each eye. (“In Memory of W. B. Yeats,” 1939) Today, the dogs of war are barking not in Europe but in the District of Columbia, and again people are … Continue reading Awaiting the Catastrophe