Collected Poems, 1957-1982

I first met Wendell Berry through his prose, but I soon discovered his poetry as well. One definition of poetry is that it is the use of exactly the right words -- no more, no less. If that is so, then Berry is surely a master, and he writes with such uncommon grace and wisdom. His phrases are beautifully crafted, musical, picturesque. For example, his "Boone" features this magnificent gem: "the light leaned quiet on the trees." Wow! This splendid book is one to which you will return again and again.

Wendell Berry's influence seeps through and sustains our land. I had read his stories of Port William. I was led to this book of poetry by a poem's mention in the Afterword in William Greider's "The Soul of Capitalism". In the latest issue of "The Land Report", Wes Jackson quotes from a letter from Wendell Berry that 22 years later led to a conference titled "Toward an Ignorance-Based Worldview". Some of the poems in this book describe the wonder of and need to fight for true everyday love. They are some of the most moving love poems I have ever read. Many talk about the land and the continuity of its people and history that comprise a place and community. No one speaks better on this topic. Then there are the Mad Farmer Liberation Front poems. Read this one and head out in a new direction. Manifesto:The Mad Farmer Liberation Front Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid, to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery any more. Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer. When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know. So, friends, every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Denounce the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands. Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed. Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest. Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns. Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years. Listen to carrion-put your ear close, and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come. Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts. So long as women do not go cheap for power, please women more than men. Ask yourself; Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child? Wil this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth? Go with your love to the fields. Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap. Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts. As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail,. the way you didn't go. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.

Like a river I love to swim in

This is truly a holy book. In his poems Berry's prose, philosophy, humanity, and concerns coalesce into poems that reinforce every notion you may hold that life and love are truly simple matters. We Americans could do well to slow down from our coffee-jagged cutthroat lifestyles (workdays and weekends included) enough to really listen carefully to this voice.

The "Collected Poems" of Wendell Berry brings together the vivid imagery of the country, and the beautiful landscape of the community, land, and heart. It is perhaps one of the best modern collections of American poetry. A humble, clear, and heart-sung voice, Berry speaks loudly for the very land which is being destroyed by changing American industry. Berry, like his literary equals, Wallace Stegner and Norman Maclean, has a true love of nature, life, and the human experience. It can be considered timely words of conservation and environmentalism, though written decades before. It is a work that is timeless, spanning generations and human differences. Berry's lyrical, rhythmic imagery will leave the reader with meaning well beyond words. Excellent work from an excellent writer.