Restoration

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Part 1: Nature, Weller and Rilke

“Bringing soul back to the world means perceiving the world through a deepened imagination, one that is capable of experiencing our intimacy with the surrounding world of finches and dragonflies, creeks and woodlands, neighborhoods and friends. Everything possesses soul. It is our myopia, our one-dimensional attention to things ‘human,’ that leads us to see the world as an object, something to be controlled, manipulated, and consumed. The earth is a revelation, offering itself to us daily in an astonishing array of beauty and suffering.” -Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow.

Dear Seized Friends,

What are your hopes and plans for 2025?

Although I have a few new goals, I contend with a jaded perspective of national and world events. How do we muster a sense of conviction to our singular purposes and to working with others for positive change when we’re discouraged by a fractured world? I must remind myself of the goodness that exists within my household, my neighborhood, and the pockets of good happening within my town, nation, and around the globe.

Also, as I gaze out my patio window, the natural world calls me. I need only to watch the cardinals and finches congregating at our winter feeder and look at the vast network of roots connecting pines and hickories within the woods—to feel heartened.

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I realize that the beauty and wonder of nature will not solve my problems or those of the world. However, nature can teach us how to be in community. And, I would wager that most, if not all of us, are in need of healing. By connecting with our inner selves and the outdoors, we can start on our healing journeys. Ultimately, we must first restore ourselves and our sense of hope in order to experience joy and be able to do our part in repairing our communities.

Some years ago, I happened upon a book of wisdom, The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller, at my local library. Weller’s book is a beautifully written guide to navigating grief. Utilizing a richness of resources which includes poetry and communal experiences, he teaches the reader how to plunder the depths of personal sorrow within the support of community to access our joy. I can relate much of what is conveyed in his book to the power of poetry.

The deepened imagination he refers to in the quote above can be developed when we allow ourselves the space and time to listen to our inner selves and be attentively in or around the natural world. A poet who would readily agree with this idea is the German transcendentalist, Rainer Maria Rilke.

His poem, “Evening,” conjures, for me, a winter night.

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Evening

The evening is slowly 
changing garb,/
Held for it by a fringe 
of old tree-tops;/
Before your eyes, 
the territories part,/
One that ascends 
to heaven, 
one that drops;/

And leave you 
fully congruent 
with neither –/
Not quite as lightless 
as the silent house,/
Nor as assuredly boding 
last things, either,/
As what turns into star 
each night and mounts –/

And leave to you 
(quite hopeless 
to unsnarl)/
Your life uneasy, vast, 
to ripeness tending,/
So that it, now confined, 
now comprehending,/
Turns now to stone 
within you, 
now to star./     

Rainer Maria Rilke, 
The Book of Images.  
I found this poem in an excellent collection, The Best of Rilke translated by Walter Arndt.

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Rilke: The Intimacy of Being Interconnected

Rainer Maria Rilke, a late nineteenth century through early twentieth century German writer, was a philosophical poet with a searching intellect. He sought to understand the nature of God and of the universe. His early verse reflects a belief in the interconnectedness of our inner lives with nature.

Herman Hesse said of this masterful poet, “ … through him resounds the music of the universe; like the basin of a fountain he becomes at once instrument and ear.” (Poetry Foundation biographical profile of Rainer Maria Rilke).

Notice how his poem, “Evening,” explores the idea of our inner lives being simultaneously bounded and boundless. Don’t we each feel this tug of opposite realities within us? His last stanza reads “And leave to you (quite hopeless to unsnarl) / Your life uneasy, vast, to ripeness tending, / So that it, now confined, now comprehending, / Turns now to stone within you, now to star.”

Photo by Richard Jaimes on Unsplash

Such wonderful imagery here, especially the stone and the star!

How I interpret “Evening:” Rilke compares the trapped feeling that we may endure to a stone dragging us downward to the earth, the territory on which the twilight drops as evening occurs. We are confined. Simultaneously, our uneasy, vast (Rilke believed that we contain expansive universes within us) lives are mellowing and evolving: We enjoy the inspirational heights of ascent like a star.

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Isn’t this idea what being a human on this earth feels like? At times, we feel depressed, heavy, unable to change our situations. Yet, we can also experience jubilation, a feeling of well-being and self-realization. Rilke realizes this truth as he is taking in the natural world, watching twilight become night.

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Additionally, the music he creates with apt word choice in lines of iambic pentameter with end rhyme may strike our ears and minds as lovely, even perfect.

Do you like this poem by Rilke? Share your thoughts about “Evening” in the Comments.

Today’s Book Pick

Photo on Amazon

The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller, published by North Atlantic Books, 2015. Although this isn’t a poetry collection, it is a poetically written, rich resource. I found Weller’s book to be astoundingly beautiful, wise, and helpful to me in my times of grief. From the Amazon description: “The Wild Edge of Sorrow offers hope and healing for a profoundly fractured world—and a pathway home to the brightness, pains, and gifts of being alive … Profoundly moving, beautifully written, this book is a balm for the soul and a necessary salve for moving together through difficult times. Grounded in ritual and connection, The Wild Edge of Sorrow welcomes each grief with care and attention, opening us to the feelings, experiences, and sacred knowledge that connect us to each other and ultimately make us whole.”

Seized friends, I can attest that the Amazon description of Weller’s book is no exaggeration!

Share your thoughts and what you’ve been reading and/or writing.