All posts by Eric Robert Nolan

Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations. Eric’s poetry has been featured by Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere. His poetry will also be published by Illumen Magazine in its Spring 2014 issue.

Illustration from Alfons Mucha’s “Le Pater,” 1899

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”

― from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest



“The Abbot” From “Basel’s Dance of Death,” Matthäus Merian, circa 1649

“Know all the theories, master all the techniques …

Cover to “Blue Beetle” #1, Paris Cullins & Bruce Patterson, 1986

DC Comics.

 

 

Cover to “Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman” Deluxe Edition, Jim Lee, 2019

DC Comics.

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.”

Cover to “Superman” #675, Alex Ross, 2008

DC Comics.

That poem in Episode 3 of “Masters of the Air” (2024)

If you enjoyed the poem/prayer invoked by the priest in Episode 3 of “Masters of the Air” (2024), I’ve pasted it below.  (I am referring to the benediction that the character gives to the 100th Bomb Group airmen before they embark on their mission.)

Its title is the same as its opening line, and it was written by Mary C. D. Hamilton in 1915.  (Thanks to Hymnary.org for the info.)

All three stanzas are shown below, though only the first two are heard in the episode.


Lord, guard and guide the men who fly

through the great spaces of the sky.

Be with them traversing the air

in darkening storms or sunshine fair.

Thou who dost keep with tender might,

the balanced birds in all their flight.

Thou of the tempered winds, be near,

that having thee they know no fear.

Control their minds with instinct fit

What time, adventuring, they quit

The firm security of land;

Grant steadfast eye and skillful hand.