60-Second Symposium

For decades art was made to shock. Now people are turning to art for its ability to soothe. Especially popular in e-mails and chat rooms in recent days is W.H. Auden's poem "September 1, 1939" ("The unmentionable odour of death/ Offends the September night"), written as World War II began. Time asked artists and writers what they were turning to.

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Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer prizewinning author:
"I've reread Franny and Zooey. There is something reassuring about Salinger, and I also wanted to read a novel set in New York City. Though it is a dark story, Salinger's New York family survives their difficulties with humor and grace."

Harold Bloom, literary critic and author of How to Read and Why:
"Ulysses, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, particularly the passage, 'Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' / We are not now that strength which in old days/ Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.' "

Mark Morris, choreographer:
"I'm not a religious person, but I find Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ, arrangement for string quartet and vocal quartet, profoundly troubling and serene. And if anything is divine, it s Bach's Mass in B Minor."

Web Resources

W.H. Read Auden's poem "September 1, 1939"

Read "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Read quotes from Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger

Download a real audio excerpt of Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ