I go by a field where once
I cultivated a few poor crops.
It is now covered with young trees,
for the forest that belongs here
has come back and reclaimed its own.
And I think of all the effort
I have wasted and all the time,
and of how much joy I took
in that failed work and how much
it taught me. For in so failing
I learned something of my place,
something of myself, and now
I welcome back the trees.
"IX." by Wendell Berry, from Leavings. © Counterpoint Press, 2010I cultivated a few poor crops.
It is now covered with young trees,
for the forest that belongs here
has come back and reclaimed its own.
And I think of all the effort
I have wasted and all the time,
and of how much joy I took
in that failed work and how much
it taught me. For in so failing
I learned something of my place,
something of myself, and now
I welcome back the trees.
With apologies to the author, my unofficial title to his poem is "Welcome Back the Trees" because I didn't like Berry's title of "IX". The poem is meaningful in that it recognizes the eternal struggle of man against nature and its laws In order to live in this world man must struggle to carve out a place in nature and to maintain his place, as nature will ultimately regain its place unless we exercise our ability to save our place in the world. Also, the poem says to me that we can and must learn from our experiences and setbacks. As we learn about ourselves and others from our failures, we become a better and wiser person.
No comments:
Post a Comment