Chapter & Verse

Wayles Brown seeks to locate a story about a boy of English and Hindu parentage who encounters the word “Eurasian” and asks his...

Wayles Brown seeks to locate a story about a boy of English and Hindu parentage who encounters the word “Eurasian” and asks his teachers what it means. They say evasively that he will understand when he is older, but he should never forget that Jesus loves him.

Joe Walsh hopes that someone can identify the poem in which a gentian is described as being “a deep and hurtful blue.” D.H. Lawrence may be the poet, he notes, “but neither ‘Bavarian Gentians’ nor anything else I can find contains that phrase.”

“British whodunit [and] Bradshaw” (July-August). Bettina Arnold was the first of several readers to suggest The Five Red Herrings, by Dorothy Sayers; although Bradshaw is not specifically mentioned, Nicholas Puner confirms that novel as the one he was seeking. He thanks Ruth Mandalian and those who suggested Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, Mike Halpern and others who suggested Sir John Magill’s Last Journey and additional works by Freeman Wills Croft, and James Durham, who suggested The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers.

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138.

Most popular

Phi Beta Kappa Speakers Call Out a ‘Deeply Troubling’ Moment

Former Harvard President Lawrence Bacow and poet Meghan O’Rourke urge graduates to focus on character and “radical attention.”

AI Outperforms Doctors in Emergency Room Tasks, New Harvard Study Shows

Researchers say the technology could help physicians with triage, diagnosis.

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Explore More From Current Issue

A glowing orange sun with a star and a trailing gas cloud in space.

A Harvard Astrophysicist Explains the Bizarre Behavior of a Supergiant Star

The dimming and rapid rotation of Betelgeuse may be caused by a hidden companion.

A man holding a revolver and lantern, wearing a hat and coat, appears to be walking cautiously.

Scoundrels, Then and Now

On con men, Mark Twain, and the powers of the Harvard name

Three joyful graduates in caps and gowns celebrate together outdoors.

Your Harvard 2026 Commencement Week Guide

College reunions and Alumni Day will take place the following week