This poem is excerpted from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry and is reprinted with permission of the author and Counterpoint Press. ... ― Wendell Berry, Given. 1934), American poet and full-time Kentucky farmer, expands into this space and contemplates the echo. 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. You also have withdrawn belief in the present reality Of the future, which surely will surprise us, …And hope is harder when it cannot come by prediction I need help understanding the lines in Wendell Berry‘s poem the wild geese: “Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. You also have withdrawn belief in … —“The Wild,” Poems (19) Berry has never “outgrown” the theme of the evils of the modern, industrial world, but he was not content for long to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.” 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 hard to have hope. 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. A Poem on Hope by Wendell Berry. The grower of trees, the gardener, the man born to farming, whose hands reach into the ground and sprout, For those interested in reading this poem and others from the same collection, see Berry´s book, Leavings. It is hard to have hope. 7 likes. He lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. Abandon, as in love or sleep,holds them to their way,clear, in the ancient faith:what we need is here. 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 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. It is hard to have hope. Contributors. The text of the poem is below. 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." 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 on Hope. A poem by Wendell Berry. November 21, 2014 Pam Leave a comment. Watch a poetry film version of this on our YouTube channel. Bill McKibben introduces Wendell Berry in 2009 at George Washington University. make a poem that does not disturb the silence from which it came.” ― Wendell Berry, Given. Moving the Dark to Wholeness: The Elegies of Wendell Berry 2 old locusts bloom. “A Poem on Hope”– Wendell Berry. tags: nature, poetry, prayer. 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. Wendell Berry (b.