I simply love this poem - The Peace of Wild Things. I found it years ago back when I was in my "poetry" phase of life. In fact, for quite a number of years, I had the poem framed alongside some photographs that I had taken of the sun rising off the Atlantic Ocean with the shadow of a flock of birds in the distance. The poem and photographs beautifully complemented each other. It was hung in my bathroom and each morning I would read it as I brushed my teeth. It was a great way to start the day. I no longer have this poem hanging in my bathroom but I have continued to return to the poetry of Wendell Berry. There is something about his writing style that just resonates with me. It is simple and honest, yet elegant and holy.
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in 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 with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry
Posted by richlee at March 12, 2006 08:03 PMI love "The Peace of Wild Things." I find it similar to a poem by J.M. Synge. I include it here:
PRELUDE
by: John Millington Synge (1871-1909)
TILL south I went and west and south again,
Through Wicklow from the morning till the night,
And far from cities, and the sights of men,
Lived with the sunshine and the moon's delight.
I knew the stars, the flowers, and the birds,
The gray and wintry sides of many glens,
And did but half remember human words,
In converse with the mountains, moors, and fens.
Best,
Tom
Posted by: Tom V. Millington at July 19, 2006 12:43 PM