Against Consolation

The title poem takes its name from a passage by Simone Weil, “We must not weep so that we may not be comforted.” But in this and other poems, Robert Cording offers a more hopeful vision of our ability to find consolation in the world we inhabit―a world endowed will offer endless spiritual possibilities, both in nature and within ourselves.

Robert Cording, a native of New Jersey and currently teaching at Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, has published over 300 poems in various literary magazines such as The New Yorker, American Scholar, Gettysburg Rcview, and Kenyon Review. In 1998, he was co-editor of an anthology of poems, essay and fiction on the Beatles. Awards range from a Bread Loaf Fellowship in poetry; New England Review's Narrative Poetry Prize; Poet-in-Residence at The Frost Place; National Endowment for the Fellowship in Poetry; Judge for Connecticut Commission On the Arts Fellowships, 2000; Pushcart Prize; Holy Cross Teaching Award; Chautauqua Teaching Award for best workshop; and Judge for Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize.