"Old Man Smoking a Pipe in a Window" by Kruseman‘Pushback’: A Poem by David Greenwood The Society July 28, 2025 Culture, Poetry 3 Comments . Pushback The New Puritans run amok, remaking our society. Through countless forms of media, they assert their authority. Through threat and bluster they control those poor souls who’ll bend the knee, but lighting up my Dunhill pipe, I claw back some autonomy. . . David Greenwood is a lecturer in the Department of Classics and Mediterranean Studies at Vanderbilt University. After taking his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, he has authored books with Cornell, Cambridge, and Routledge, numerous articles in theology, philosophy, and history, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2021. His poetry has been published in numerous venues, including The Lyric and WestWard Quarterly. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. ***Read Our Comments Policy Here*** 3 Responses Roy Eugene Peterson July 28, 2025 I take “New Puritans” as antithetical to the well-known historical puritans who are attempting to remold culture in their own mistaken, objectionable, and damaging way through capturing the media while propagandizing and preaching devilish forms of behavior. If so, then I second the motion. Reply Mike Bryant July 28, 2025 I’m with Roy on this fine poem. I love the reframing of the deep state overlords as the “New Puritans.” Maybe the new deists will put an end to all the witch hunts! Reply Joseph S. Salemi July 28, 2025 All Puritans, old or new, are the same. Their one great fear is that somebody, somewhere, might be happy and enjoying himself. Remember that the Pilgrims who came here in 1620 were misfits and troublemakers in their own land of Merrie England. Their uptight narrow-mindedness, their bleak rigidity, their incessant Bible-thumping, and their need to tell everyone around them how to live and pray and deport themselves, were simply intolerable. They have never given up their deathgrip on American thinking. Their actual religious beliefs are now mostly gone, but their hunger for power and thought-control over other Americans is sharper than ever. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Roy Eugene Peterson July 28, 2025 I take “New Puritans” as antithetical to the well-known historical puritans who are attempting to remold culture in their own mistaken, objectionable, and damaging way through capturing the media while propagandizing and preaching devilish forms of behavior. If so, then I second the motion. Reply
Mike Bryant July 28, 2025 I’m with Roy on this fine poem. I love the reframing of the deep state overlords as the “New Puritans.” Maybe the new deists will put an end to all the witch hunts! Reply
Joseph S. Salemi July 28, 2025 All Puritans, old or new, are the same. Their one great fear is that somebody, somewhere, might be happy and enjoying himself. Remember that the Pilgrims who came here in 1620 were misfits and troublemakers in their own land of Merrie England. Their uptight narrow-mindedness, their bleak rigidity, their incessant Bible-thumping, and their need to tell everyone around them how to live and pray and deport themselves, were simply intolerable. They have never given up their deathgrip on American thinking. Their actual religious beliefs are now mostly gone, but their hunger for power and thought-control over other Americans is sharper than ever. Reply
