Wendell Berry

Wendell Erdman Berry (born 1934) is an American writer, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural and social critic, and farmer. He lives in Kentucky near his birthplace, where he has farmed for over 40 years. As a young man, he lived for a time in California, Europe, and New York, and taught at the University of Kentucky for many years, but eventually decided to pursue farming full-time. Berry has a deep respect for the land, is a staunch advocate of agrarian values, and distrusts technology. He is the author of more than 50 books of poetry, novels, short stories, and essays. In his poetry, he celebrates the sacredness of life and the everyday miracles that are often taken for granted. He is recognized by critics and literary theorists as a master of many literary genres, but whether he writes poetry, fiction, or essays, his message is essentially the same: people must learn to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the earth, or they will perish.

His book The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture (1977), which analyzes the many failures of modern mechanized living, has become one of the key texts of the environmental movement. Berry argues that many environmentalists do not fully appreciate the importance of agriculture. He firmly believes that small-scale agriculture is essential to the development of healthy local economies, and that strong local economies are essential to the survival of species and the well-being of the planet. He argues that agriculture is the foundation of great American culture and strongly opposes the agricultural policies of the US government, which encourage practices that lead to overproduction and to pollution and soil erosion. “Today, local economies are being destroyed by a global economy that has no respect for what works in a particular place. … We must support what supports local life, that is, community, family, home life – that is the moral capital from which our larger institutions must draw. If larger institutions undermine local life, they will destroy this moral capital in the same way that the industrial economy destroyed the natural capital of localities ─ the fertility of the soil, etc. Basic wisdom accumulates in communities just as fertility accumulates in the soil.”

Wendell Berry first gained literary recognition as a poet. In collections such as The Country of Marriage (1973), Farming: A Handbook (1970), Openings: Poems (1968) and The Broken Ground (1964) writes about the landscape, the changing seasons, the routine of farming, family life, and the spiritual aspects of the natural world. Other collections include: This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems (2014) and A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997. Berry's collection of essays Recollected Essays, 1965-1980 It is often compared to a book by Henry David Thoreau. WaldenThe poem published here, translated by Lenka Kubelová, is from the author's collection The Mad Farmers Poems (2008). W. Berry is the recipient of the TS Eliot Prize, the Aiken Taylor Prize for Poetry, the Orion Society's John Hay Prize, the Richard C. Holbrook Award for Distinguished Achievement, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

MANIFESTO: Mad Farmer's Liberation Front

Love quick profit, its annual increase,
paid vacation. Want it all
immediately and pre-cooked. Be afraid
getting to know neighbors and death.
You will have a window in your head.
And your future will no longer be a secret,
never again. They'll print your brain on a card
and they lock him in a drawer.
If they want you to buy something,
They will call you. If they want,
Let them know that you will die in the name of profit.

So friends, do something every day,
what doesn't count. Love God.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take everything you have and be poor.
Love someone who doesn't deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
flag. Hope for a life of freedom
a country that is worth it.
Approve everything you can't do
understand. Honor ignorance, for man
What it does not recognize, it does not destroy.

Ask questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant redwoods.
Tell them your main crop is the forest,
that you didn't plant anything,
that you will not live to see the harvest.
Tell them the leaves are being harvested,
when they rot into a black mass.
Call it profit. Prophesy the returns.

Put your faith in those few inches of humus,
what will be created under the trees,
It happens every thousand years.
Listen to the carcass – put your ear to it
Closer, listen to the quiet buzzing
songs that are yet to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be full of joy,
even if you know all the facts.
Because women don't blindly pursue power,
Be there for women rather than men.
Ask: Would this please a woman?
blissful in anticipation of a child?
This would disturb my sleep.
a woman shortly before giving birth?

Run with your love to the fields. Lie down in the shade. Lay your head in her lap. Swear allegiance to the one closest to your thoughts. As soon as generals and politicians can predict the movements of your mind, abandon them. Leave behind only signs leading you down a false trail, a path you did not take. Be like the fox that leaves more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong directions. Practice resurrection.