In Their Names
I
Rigorous, vigorous
Herr Doktor Schopenhauer
struck academics as
cranky and dour,
yet when he socialized
nonacademically
everyone called him the
man of the hauer.
II
Fearlessly, peerlessly
Søren A. Kierkegaard
thought like a genius and
wrote like a bard.
Even some modern-day
post-existentialists
still hold his name in the
highest regaard.
III
Prominent, dominant
Ludwig J. Wittgenstein
challenged his students, who
grumbled a bit
knowing their prof had a
supratentorial
region they certainly
couldn’t outwitt.
IV
Pondering, wondering
Meister M. Heidegger
once kept his Weltanschauung
hidden inside,
then he revealed it with
methodological
writings until there was
nothing to heid.
IconocLast Judgment
El Greco (1541-1614), considered one of the great Mannerist painters of the Spanish Renaissance,
was strongly influenced by Michelangelo yet “did not hesitate to dismiss Michelangelo’s Last Judgment
in the Sistine Chapel,” and later said Michelangelo “did not know how to paint.”
—El-Greco-Foundation.org
Snippily, snappily
Theotokópoulos
glanced at the Sistine and,
scholars report,
judged Michelangelo
deprecatorily.
Sometimes a Mannerist’s
manners fall short.