The peace of wild things - A poem by Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry - The peace of wild things

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Added: on February 25th, 2006 at 10:35 AM | Viewed: 3794 times | Comments and analysis of The peace of wild things by Wendell Berry Comments (7)

The peace of wild things - Comments and Information
Poet: Wendell Berry Poem: The peace of wild things Comment 7 of 7, added on January 15th, 2007 at 2:04 PM. i had to do a project on a poem and i chose to do one of Berry's creations. this one was by far my favorite, i agree that his love of nature and humanity intertwined with one another is beautiful. every once in a while everyone needs to get in touch with nature and just get away for a little while. the wild is how our world got started, all we had to begin with was wild land and creatures, we need to get back to our roots sometimes. meghan from United States Comment 6 of 7, added on March 23rd, 2006 at 12:23 AM. The line "I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief." made me think of a contrast of human nature vs wild animal/bird nature. Humans will worry about today, tomorrow, and the future whereas, animals deal with now and have no thought of more than immediate need. I also thought about Berry's spiritual and biblical tendencies and recalled scriptures in Matthew and Luke reminding us not to worry about how we will be taken care of for we are worth more than birds and lilies which have their needs taken care of. Carla from United States Comment 5 of 7, added on February 25th, 2006 at 10:35 AM. Wild things do not tax thier lives with "thoughts" I'm not sure wild things have thoughts. the poem itself is perhaps an attemt to enlighten us with the knowledge we posess does not nessessiarily mean we poison our own peace of mind with this great intelligence of ours. Marcus from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, The peace of wild things, has received 7 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Wendell Berry with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: Wendell Berry Poem: The peace of wild things Last read: Jul 24 2008, 11:22AM Viewed 3794 times. Added on February 25th, 2006 at 10:35 AM.

Berry Info
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