ratanapan poem 4
A Blessing (1963)
By James Wright
James Wright was an American poet who was part of the deep image poetry movement and specialized in form and meter in his early works. "A Blessing" was first published in 1963, and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1972. The speaker tells the audience of a specific encounter with two Indian ponies that brought upon himself and another individual a breeze of quiet and harmony. In the one instance the individual and his companion share with these two horses, the environment is still, like the eye of a hurricane. “A Blessing” is yet another hypothetical instance in which peace is integrated into one’s everyday life. Although the poem is one that reveres the feeling of happiness presented with the horses, there is an underlying darkness behind Wright’s tone designating the uncommonality of the occurrence. The situation itself gives off a feeling that “this feeling is a blessing and is finally happening for once.”
Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
By James Wright
James Wright was an American poet who was part of the deep image poetry movement and specialized in form and meter in his early works. "A Blessing" was first published in 1963, and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1972. The speaker tells the audience of a specific encounter with two Indian ponies that brought upon himself and another individual a breeze of quiet and harmony. In the one instance the individual and his companion share with these two horses, the environment is still, like the eye of a hurricane. “A Blessing” is yet another hypothetical instance in which peace is integrated into one’s everyday life. Although the poem is one that reveres the feeling of happiness presented with the horses, there is an underlying darkness behind Wright’s tone designating the uncommonality of the occurrence. The situation itself gives off a feeling that “this feeling is a blessing and is finally happening for once.”
Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
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