A literary critic aspires to eloquence, though makes no pretense to mirror the sublimity of the monuments inspiring his endeavors. Poets express their wonder through works of art. Critics articulate their homage via analysis of art’s workings. Hence, these essays and lectures, addressed to the quizzical, though not of necessity scholarly, reader, explore Shakespeare and noted re-envisioners of the Bard; four modern novels that interrogate identity; and underappreciated works and writers. They conclude with a series of pensees (thinkings) that, in the course of glossing nuances, reflect upon the interpretative craft itself.