William H. Pritchard, a frequent contributor, is the Henry Clay Folger Professor of English, Emeritus, at Amherst College. Also by this author Eliot’s Pitiless Brilliance Get Commonweal’s latest, delivered twice weekly. Email address Published in the 2004-10-22 issue: View Contents Recommended for you Whatever Happened to Synodality? By Heidi Schlumpf June 18, 2026 Waidmannslust By Linda Kinstler June 15, 2026 Innocence & Impotence By Sophia Sheehy Bulla June 18, 2026