Wendell Berry" The Vacation"

Wendell Erdman Berry was born on August 5, 1934, in Henry County, Kentucky, where his family had farmed for four generations.

Wendell Berry's poetry mainly focuses on farm life and living in rural America. His poems are simplistic, yet passionate.

This open form poem is similar to the others but different because of its structure and line breaks.

The Vacation

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.

He went flying down the river in his boat

with his video camera to his eye, making

a moving picture of the moving river

upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly

toward the end of his vacation. He showed

his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,

preserving it forever: the river, the trees,

the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat

behind which he stood with his camera

preserving his vacation even as he was having it

so that after he had had it he would still

have it. it would be there. With a flick

of a switch, there it would be. But he

would not be in it. He would ever be in it.

The person in the poem wanted to record every moment so he would not forget anything that happened. But instead of making his vacation unforgettable, he will never have had the chance to experience it to its fullest potential.

But when he recorded it, he forgot to enjoy living in the moment to remember it for himself.

The imagery included in this

poem is truly beautiful.

I love the lines “his sleek boat moved swiftly/ toward the end of his vacation.” (5-6). They stand out to me because he is not there, just his boat, as he sees it from behind the camera .

Berry, Wendell. The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998. Print.

Wendell Berry's poem "The Law That Marries All Things" is typical of his style. He often writes regarding nature in a very romantic way

Daniel Cornell agrees in his article. He writes, "literary studies place him within a particular genre tradition--southern regionalism, romantic nature poetry" (Cornell "Country of Marriage" 1)

Along with his passion for nature, he has protested for a natural life, against nuclear power and ruining the landscape of rural Kentucky.

Cornell, Daniel. "The Country of Marriage: Wendell Berry's personal political vision." The Southern Literary Journal 16.1 (1983): 59+. General OneFile. Web. 18 Mar. 2012.

~ Studied at University of Kentucky, Stanford, and Stegner Fellow (California) in the 1950s

~ Married Tanya Amyx in 1957

~ Has one daughter and one son

Literary Criticism

In Daniel's article, he writes that "Berry is not unrealistic. He says that flowers cannot compete with nuclear reactors: protest and demonstrations are necessary. But while it may not be able to "compete" with a nuclear reactor, a garden, says Berry, is powerful." (Cornell "Country of Marriage" 17)

Wendell Berry

Selected Poems

Ball, Terence. "Berry, Wendell Erdman (1934 – ) American Writer, Poet, and Conservationist." Environmental Encyclopedia. 2003. Retrieved February 16, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3404800163/berry-wendell-erdman-1934.html

"it may be/years before we're both/

idle again on the same day." (6-8)

Even though they make the plans,

he knows it probably won't happen.

Apparently Wendell Berry

appreciates the freedom in open form poetry.

Wendell Berry

I can definitely relate to the

speakers feelings in this poem.

Mostly because he knows the plans the two men mak will most likely never follow through.

Outlawry: n. disregard or

defiance of the law

But by the end of the poem, Berry very blatantly says “With a flick/ of a switch, there it would be. But he/ would not be in it. He would never be in it.” and these lines give the poem a very unhappy and unpleasant tone (13-15).

I absolutely love the imagery in the end of this poem.

http://www.americanlifeinpoetry.org/columns/425.html

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/245686

http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=99-P13-00026&segmentID=9

http://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/wendell-e-berry-biography

The scene of, "the water shining/ under the morning fog.” is just so pleasing and beutiful to picture. (14-15)