“The Peace of Wild Things” and “Another Descent” Poems by Wendell Berry Essay

Wendell Berry is a talented modern writer and poet who is distinguished by his unconventional combination of occupations. What we mean, is that Berry has mastered two seemingly unrelated professions: a poet and a farmer. However, this special factor adds a unique zest to his poetry. It makes his works sincere and accessible but, by no means, primitive. As a common man, the poet successfully manages to reach the reader’s heart and to inspire the audience with his ideas. It may be vividly shown by the example of two marvelous poems by W. Berry: “The Peace of Wild Things” and “Another Descent”. The author manages to accomplish his task of reaching the reader’s soul due to resorting to one of the central themes of his poetic works: the theme of nature and the relationship of a man and the earth. In order to make the analysis versatile, we may also resort to the poem by Robert Frost who also describes the beauty of nature in his poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”.

“The Peace of Wild Things” is one of the most well-known poems of the author. In the first line of the poem Berry describes the state of despair which is increasing in his soul and interfering with his quiet life. We can guess that this state of despair is caused by alienation of a man from nature. The state of despair is heightened by the figure of speech called meiosis: “the least sound” (Berry 30).

The third line of the poem clearly conveys the message of the work, which is so evident that it may be compared with the cry for help. Berry says that his despair is caused by endless fear of the future of society, he is afraid that we are already separated from nature by modern civilization; what is more, he cannot even imagine what will happen to our children if they choose the way of life we are leading now. This is why we have to hurry and take immediate measures to resume our healthy relationship with nature as the author does in the fourth line of the poem.

The theme of admiration of nature may be observed in the subsequent lines of the poem. The author creates the image of magnificent, immortal nature, and his immense love and worship for everything animate is evident. The author never lets in the possibility of killing or doing harm to any little part of nature. This may be proved by the following words: “I dislike the thought that some animal may be made miserable to feed me” (Peters 2). This love and respect for every animate thing is evident in the poem: “drake… in his beauty”, “great herons” (Berry 30). The animals are not food for the poet, they are his friends connected with him by natural affinity. He calls the animate nature “wild things” stressing that they may seem primitive, uncivilized, they can neither speak nor do other things that a man can do, but they are better and wiser than human beings are. They manage to live in peace, while we are constantly in a state of war with one other. Nature can teach us how to live a decent life and how to survive; we should just listen to it and follow its advice, only in that case we will be free: “I rest in the grace of the world and I am free” (Berry 30).

In the poem “Another Descent” the poet also resorts to the theme of human relationship with nature. It can be stated that this poem supplements the first one with additional details concerning the theme of man and nature. It describes the roots of humanity and its final destination.

The text of the poem is graphically divided into two parts: the first describes winter, and the second describes spring. It is obvious that these descriptions are symbolic: winter describes human state when a person is alienated from nature, when he forgets his roots and his descent. In this case, a man is doomed to be lost between the earth and the sky deprived of peace and content.

However, the second part of the poem presents us the new life that will be changed, if we find harmony with nature. The author compares it with spring: “as March warms” (Berry 206). The process of “return to earth” will be slow and gradual, but it is necessary, and eventually it is sure to make humanity happy.

In order to make the analysis of the poetry of Berry complete, it is necessary to refer to the work of some other poet who also makes use of the theme of nature. This theme may be observed in the poetic heritage of Robert Frost. A picturesque example is his well-known poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. However, Frost’s perception of nature and the message for the reader differs from Berry’s point of view considerably. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” we can also observe the author’s return to nature. He admires its beauty: “easy wind and downy flake” (Frost 9). At the same time he does not seek unity with nature, he knows that someone else owns it, and he has to leave before the master returns. Unlike Berry, he chooses to go back to society, but he also advises the readers to communicate with nature and to find resort in the woods.

In conclusion, let us state that it is always up to the reader to decide whose point of view to support: Robert Frost’s of Wendell Berry’s. The best variant will be if the reader creates his own point of view relying on the poets’ masterpieces. On the whole, it is evident that the poetry of Wendell Berry may be really helpful for contemporary society. In our time of technical progress, abyss of information, and scientific discoveries we risk losing our way without even mentioning this. We should not forget that we have descended from nature, and now we have a chance to come back to it and to restore our inner and outer harmony. This is the message of Berry’s poems and the sound piece of advice for humanity.

Works Cited

Berry, Wendell. Collected Poems. NY: Farrar, Straus and Girox, 1987.

Berry, Wendell. The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry. NY: Counterpoint press, 1999.

Frost, Robert. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. NY: Dutton Juvenile, 2001.

Peters, Jason. Wendell Berry: Life and Work. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2007.