It is hard to have hope. 7 likes. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. A Winter Song + a Poem by Wendell Berry Yesterday, and the quiet evening before it, the softest, fluffiest, whitest snow fell quietly all around our home and the homes around it. The grower of trees, the gardener, the man born to farming, whose hands reach into the ground and sprout, Wendell Berry (b. The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry is a culled collection of poems from Berry’s long career and various publications, including The Broken Ground, Openings, and The Wheel. 1934), American poet and full-time Kentucky farmer, expands into this space and contemplates the echo. Abandon, as in love or sleep,holds them to their way,clear, in the ancient faith:what we need is here. ... ― Wendell Berry, Given. Moving the Dark to Wholeness: The Elegies of Wendell Berry 2 old locusts bloom. The text of the poem is below. This poem is excerpted from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry and is reprinted with permission of the author and Counterpoint Press. tags: nature, poetry, prayer. Contributors. I need help understanding the lines in Wendell Berry‘s poem the wild geese: “Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. A Poem on Hope by Wendell Berry. You also have withdrawn belief in … A Poem on Hope. Wendell Berry is a farmer, poet, and environmentalist who has published more than 50 books. Scroll down to watch the video of Berry reading a poem about hope and place. A poem by Wendell Berry. The visionary poet, environmentalist and farmer Wendell Berry reads and talks about two of his poems -- "The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer" and "A Poem on Hope." —“The Wild,” Poems (19) Berry has never “outgrown” the theme of the evils of the modern, industrial world, but he was not content for long to express himself in the manner of “The Wild.” It is hard to have hope. For those interested in reading this poem and others from the same collection, see Berry´s book, Leavings. Watch a poetry film version of this on our YouTube channel. “A Poem on Hope”– Wendell Berry. You also have withdrawn belief in the present reality Of the future, which surely will surprise us, …And hope is harder when it cannot come by prediction Bill McKibben introduces Wendell Berry in 2009 at George Washington University. It is harder as you grow old, for hope must not depend on feeling good and there’s the dream of loneliness at absolute midnight. November 21, 2014 Pam Leave a comment. make a poem that does not disturb the silence from which it came.” ― Wendell Berry, Given. It is hard to have hope. At a Country Funeral Wendell Berry Now the old ways that have brought us farther than we remember sink our of sight as under the treading of many strangers ignorant of landmarks. A winter song, it softly sang like the whispering breath of a newborn baby, hugging every branch on every tree on every street, as far as our eyes could see. It is harder as you grow old, For hope must not depend on feeling good And there is the dream of loneliness at absolute midnight.