The Uncarved Blog

Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. He has published more than 50 books. Berry is an elected member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, a recipient of The National Humanities Medal, and the Jefferson Lecturer for 2012. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. Listen to him read this poem at the On Being website.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s 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 of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

(The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry, Counterpoint, March 1, 2009)

After considerable persuasion in 2013, Bill Moyers, with The Schumann Media Center, which he heads, produced a portrait of Wendell Berry: Poet & Prophet. During the interview (20:30), Moyers asked Berry to read his famous poem, The Peace of Wild Things.

Moyers then asks Berry to elaborate on what he means by the grace of the world. He says he meant it in a religious sense, that “the world is maintained every day by the force that created it.” To him the whole thing is holy. At 22:16 he says: “There are no sacred and unsacred places. They’re only sacred and desecrated places.” He mentions that the corporate blowing up of a mountain and the strip mining for coal that’s taking place is a desecration of the land. He alluded to and expressed that same sentiment in How to Be a Poet when he wrote: There are no unsacred places; / there are only sacred places / and desecrated places.  

Two other poems of his were posted on this blog: Wendell Berry’s stepping over stones in a stream shows us how he writes a poem and takes a stand and Wendell Berry’s “No going back” is about the generosity of the evolving self through time.

When I found out he died (August 31, 2026), I added two poems, on September 1, 2026: Wendell Berry is now one of The Loved Ones, and September 2, 2026: Advice from Wendell Berry on How to Be a Poet.

Another great American nature poet is Mary Oliver. I created a memorial post after I discovered she had passed. It contains links to some of her beautiful poems that I liked and posted over the years, as well as articles, interviews, and readings: RIP: Mary Oliver. Thank you for sharing your poetic gifts with us. They are a national treasure!

^{— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.}

Tags: environmentalist, farmer, poet, the healing power of nature, the peace of wild things, wendell berry

This entry was posted on February 27, 2021 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Literature, Other poems, Peace, Poetry, Sustainable Living, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.