Given: Poems
by Wendell Berry
On This Page
Description
For five decades Wendell Berry has been a poet of great clarity and purpose. He is an award-winning writer whose imagination is grounded by the pastures of his chosen place and the rooms and porches of his family's home. InGiven, the work is as rich and varied as ever before. With his unmistakable voice as the constant, he dexterously maneuvers through a variety of forms and themes--political cautions, love poems, a play in verse, and a long series of Sabbath Poems that resulted from Berry's show more recent Sunday morning walks of meditation and observation. Berry's work is one of devotion to family and community, to the earth and her creatures, to the memories of the past, and the hope of the future. His writing stands alongside the work of William Carlos Williams and Robert Frost as a rigorous American testament. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid%3A36073
My review of GIVEN:
In his 15th collection of poems, Wendell Berry’s precise language combines with affection for his subjects for energizing, spiritual, renewing results. It’s a welcome relief from the white noise of the contemporary American poetry scene. “Sonata at Payne Hollow,” a play-in-verse continuation of Berry’s chronicle of country life, forms the central section. It’s surrounded by shorter poems, many of which are meditations. This is especially true of the poems in the final section, “Sabbaths 1998-2004,” which Berry composed, fittingly enough, on the Sabbath, still taken by some as a day of rest and reflection. His unobtrusive use of form grants show more these poems an easy grace, fitting for anyone who, like Berry, occasionally “finds that he is smiling / not by his own will.” show less
My review of GIVEN:
In his 15th collection of poems, Wendell Berry’s precise language combines with affection for his subjects for energizing, spiritual, renewing results. It’s a welcome relief from the white noise of the contemporary American poetry scene. “Sonata at Payne Hollow,” a play-in-verse continuation of Berry’s chronicle of country life, forms the central section. It’s surrounded by shorter poems, many of which are meditations. This is especially true of the poems in the final section, “Sabbaths 1998-2004,” which Berry composed, fittingly enough, on the Sabbath, still taken by some as a day of rest and reflection. His unobtrusive use of form grants show more these poems an easy grace, fitting for anyone who, like Berry, occasionally “finds that he is smiling / not by his own will.” show less
Astonishly beautiful. Spending even a few moments with Berry in his woods, in his world, with his words...is just spiritually and poetically satisfying. A beautiful companion to A Timbered Choir.
Sampled and enjoyed, especially Part I: "In a country once forested".
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
160+ Works 24,777 Members
Wendell Berry The prolific poet, novelist, and essayist Wendell Berry is a fifth-generation native of north central Kentucky. Berry taught at Stanford University; traveled to Italy and France on a Guggenheim Fellowship; and taught at New York University and the University of Kentucky, Lexington, before moving to Henry County. Berry owns and show more operates Lanes Landing Farm, a small, hilly piece of property on the Kentucky River. He embraced full-time farming as a career, using horses and organic methods to tend the land. Harmony with nature in general, and the farming tradition in particular, is a central theme of Berry's diverse work. As a poet, Berry gained popularity within the literary community. Collected Poems, 1957-1982, was particularly well-received. Novels and short stories set in Port William, a fictional town paralleling his real-life home town of Port Royal further established his literary reputation. The Memory of Old Jack, Berry's third novel, received Chicago's Friends of American Writers Award for 1975. Berry reached his broadest audience and attained his greatest popular acclaim through his essays. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture is a springboard for contemporary environmental concerns. In his life as well as his art, Berry has advocated a responsible, contextual relationship with individuals in a local, agrarian economy. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 266
- Popularity
- 121,652
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.44)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
