Reviews

The Peace of Wild Things: And Other Poems by Wendell Berry

matthebat's review against another edition

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4.0

a beautiful, delicate collection of poems, denouncing the flaws of society.

nikita_h's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

sonofstdavid's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

yoshi5's review against another edition

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4.0

Ebbs between hopelessness and sombre forlorn moods, and hope and presence. Encapsulates the anxious feelings of facing leaving a world that is in dire straits. Strong themes of eco-anxiety without being too depressing. Glimmers of hope amongst a eulogy for a (condemned?) Earth.

pileatedwoodpecker's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

5.0

From the titular poem: 
" 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. "
Other favorites: "The Thought of Something Else", "In Memory: Stuart Egnal", "To A Siberian Woodsman", "A Standing Ground", "The Heron", "The Wild Geese"

tchaikovskys_ghost's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

carlybarly6's review against another edition

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5.0

Just the deepest sigh. Wendell’s Berry’s poems in this collection are all just a big ole sigh. They help me to breathe. They give perspective, they speak simplicity, they are seasonal, and they are a beautiful sigh of relief.

sierra_y's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

4.5

jackiejauregui's review

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hopeful reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.5

katcic's review against another edition

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3.0

I wanted to love these poems and just didn't. I will come back to them again and try to find a way in, but just felt that some of them were long and often repeated images and themes without expanding or saying anything new. Maybe this is the gist of his message - that we have to keep repeating and reiterating how the natural world is being exploited and ruined and how the relationship of the individual to nature is a source of joy and frustration, but I'm just guessing......