The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

Jul 18, 2026

100

The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry gathers one hundred poems drawn from nine earlier collections, presenting an American poetry vision that is clear yet complex about what it means to be human. The poems balance elegy, song, and meditation with reverence, moving through sound and syntax like something remembered. Central concerns include daily outdoor work, love of family and community rooted in place, and themes of faith, fortitude, and action amid despair.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages200

Reading Time5 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

Also by Wendell Berry

Library of Congress Data

TheSelectedPoemsWendelBerry | | | P | N | | --- | --- | --- | --- | $20.00 The mind must sing of itself to keep awake. In elegy,subversive cll,song or meditation,Wendell Berry's clear yet complex vision of what itmeans to be human is rare in American poetry.Inthese one hundred poems,drawn from nine previ-ous collections,Berry's play of sound and syntaxmoves in our minds like something just remem-bered,and remains with us like an afterimage on theeye.He loves the pleasure of daily work outdoors一and his love of family and community is centered ina place on earth. When despair for the world grous in meandI wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my childrens 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 ofwild things who do not tax their lives with forethougbtofgrief.I come into the presence of still waterAnd Ifeel above me the day-blind starswaiting with their ligbt.For a time I rest in the grace ofthe world,and amfee. As an activist and farmer,Berry's poems are bal-anced by reverence.With care and fidelity,hisrecuring themes luminesce into examples of faith,fortitude,and action.In these scattershot days ofspins and polls,e-mails and answering machines,The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry is a contempla-tive and inspiring hymn to life. BRAR) T 103 HARTFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY500 MAIN STREETHARTFORD,CT 06103√ # The Selected Poems ofWendell Berry Also by Wendell Berry FICTION The Discovery of KentuckyFidelity The Memory ofOld JackNathan CoulterA Place on EarthRemembering Two More Stories of the Port William MembershipWatch with MeThe Wild BirdsAWorld Lost POETRY The Broken GroundClearing Collected Poems:I957-I982The Country of MarriageEntries Farming:A Hand BookFindingsOpeningsA PartSabbaths Sayings and DoingsATimbered Choir Traveling at Home(with prose)The Wheel ESSAYS Another Turn ofthe CrankA Continuous Harmon)The Gift ofGood Land Harlan Hubbard:Life and WorkThe Hidden WoundHome Economics Recollected Essays:I954-1980 Sex,Economy,FreedomBCommunityStanding by Words The Unforeseen WildernessThe Unsettling of AmericaWhat Are People For? # TheSelected PoemsWendellofBerry CoUNTERPOINT WASHINCTON,D.C. Copyright ◎1998 by Wendell Berry All rights reserved under International and Pan-American CopyrightConventions.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in anymanner whatsoever without written permission from the Publisher,except in the case of briefquotations embodied in critical articles andreviews. The author would like to thank the publishers of the following collec-tions from which this selection was made:The Broken Ground(1964),Openings(1968),Farming:A Handbook(1970),The Country of Marriage(1973),and Clearing(1977)by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,Inc.;Findings(1969)by The Prairie Press;and A Part(I98o)and The Wheel(1982)byNorth Point /Farrar,Straus &Giroux.Poems f

FAQs

What is the scope of the collection in The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry?

The selection includes one hundred poems drawn from nine previously published collections.

Which aspects of life and values recur throughout Berry’s poems as described in the text?

The poems emphasize daily work outdoors, love of family and community, and a deep attention to place on earth.

How does the provided description characterize Berry’s overall poetic tone and purpose?

Berry’s poems are portrayed as balanced by reverence, and as examples of faith, fortitude, and action, even when confronting despair.

Jul 18, 2026

100

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