Peace of Wild Things, The
Gentleman farmer and poet Wendell Berry writes in many genres and has been described as a modern day Thoreau. This setting of Berry's "The Peace of Wild Things" often bring singers to tears upon first reading; as it connects the singer to our animal nature, stills our minds, slows our breath and invites respite from despair.
| Item | Voicing | Duration | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBMP 561 | SSAA | 4:50 | Audio file
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$2.05 Purchase at SBMP | |
| SBMP 692 | SATB | 4:00 | Audio file
|
$2.05 Purchase at SBMP |
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,and the great heron feeds.
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.