Latest Articles
We are encouraged to rely more and more on government officials to do for us what we could equally well do for ourselves—and, maybe more importantly, not to do what might help us solve our own problems.
Sep 08 2024
10 mins
If we imagine a metric called the Pinocchio Scale, which measures the number of lies told by a politician as a percentage of his or her overall public statements, our current prime minister (for want of a better description), Airbus Albo, has moved well into uncharted territory.
Sep 06 2024
5 mins
Peter Stiles: ‘Lark Ascending’, ‘Mount Athos’ and ‘Tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams’
Lark Ascending
There is a space between desire
where sound filters thoughts
and pure landscapes shine.
A bird, a sky, a summer,
the rolling English hills
and dulcet memories.
The Yorkshire Dales that day.
A violin notes my reverie,
with glimpses of a stream,
a Roman road, a foursome,
in silence, then in awe.
The lark ascends
in traceries of flight,
catching my breath with song
then out of sight.
Peter Stiles
Mount Athos
(for Scott Cairns)
Searching for a place where life is prayer,
where heyschia endures through night and day,
and prayer gives way to sleep and then to prayer,
I read your book, memorable Mount Athos moments,
mystérion ever before your thoughts.
In the hard walks and the cold nights,
you found a brilliance in the darkness,
a balm for your bruised travelling,
uncovering monastic treasures for the soul.
In this Lenten light I long to learn
where I can find that pilgrim’s place of peace,
a mountain in this mind of sighs
to lift my hungry heart to things divine.
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins
