Other People’s Thoughts: Reading Aloud
Posted in Other People's Thoughts on 01/25/2011 06:05 am by admin“These poems were written in silence, in solitude, mainly out of doors. A reader will like them best, I think, who reads them in similar circumstances — at least in a quiet room. They would be most favorably heard if read aloud into a kind of quietness that is not afforded by any public place. I hope that some readers will read them as they were written: slowly, and with more patience than effort.”
Wendell Berry, in the preface to his collection of Sabbath poems, A Timbered Choir
I’m three weeks in to my attempt at reading a poem a day in 2011, and I’ve taken Berry’s advice in reading each of his poems aloud, slowly, though I think I need both patience and effort. So far it’s been an experience both enjoyable and beneficial, bringing a stillness and quietness to my soul as I let the words tumble around in my mouth and work their way into the deep places of my mind. For years I’ve read the Psalms aloud for the same reason.
Kennewick has been chilly with gusty winds since I arrived, so I haven’t ventured out to read poetry out of doors — I want the pages to stay in my book. Maybe when spring arrives I’ll move my daily reading outside.
01/26/2011 at 5:27 pm
There is something about chewing on the Psalms. One of last year’s goal was to memorize Psalm 139 but did not get very far-definitely put in more effort this year.
02/10/2011 at 3:01 pm
I read my first Wendell Berry poem today. (“First? Shame on you,” you’re probably thinking, but that’s how it is!) I’ve not chosen to deliberately read any poetry since “The Singer,” The Song,” and “An Overture of Light,” by Calvin Miller, and that’s been quite a few years. I’m reading “Prayer: Does It Make a Difference,” by Philip Yancey and he included one of Berry’s poems, “The Peace of Wild Things.” (Just started the book. There may be more.) Very good. I sure I would enjoy reading more of his work.
02/10/2011 at 7:43 pm
No shame in admitting that, James. That was the reason I decided to read a poem a day this year, because I haven’t read much poetry at all in my life. No place like today to start!