Alack tis he, why he was met euen now, As mad as the vent sea singing aloud, Crownd with ranke femiter and furrow weedes, With hor-docks, hemlocke, netles, cookow flowers, Darnell and all the idle weedes that grow,

[…] the Gods neuer shewed them selues so rigorous, as against a mercilesse and vnpitiful people.

His house organ Breitbart and a host of Trump-right websites and news outlets sang praises to his dank genius.

If Covid-19 eventually imbues human beings with some humility, it’s possible that we will, after all, be receptive to the lessons of this lethal pandemic. Or perhaps we will sink back into our culture of complacent exceptionalism and await the next plague that will surely arrive.