A Blessing

        The poem entitled “A Blessing,” by James Wright is about two ponies.  The poet and his friend were passing by these animals and stopped to watch their actions.  They see that the ponies are glad to see them because they come closer to them as if to welcome them to their pasture.  The ponies love each other, but they have no one else.  That is why they are so happy to have visitors.  Once the horses get used to the foreigners in their pasture, they go back to what they were doing, which was eating grass.  One of the ponies approaches the poet and nuzzles his hand.  This gentle gesture and the mere feel of the pony cause the poet to have a sort of epiphany.  He may have realized one of two things.  He may have suddenly discovered the beauty of nature and what it is all about.  He does not go into detail to say what his actual discovery has been.  It is possible that he wants to keep this to himself, yet still allow the reader to know that something magnificent has happened.  Another possible realization that the poet may have arrived at may be that he knows now that there is, in fact, life after death.  When he does die he will not just disappear, but he will “blossom” into something new and beautiful.

Join now!

        I think that it is very possible that the poetry and ideas of William Wordsworth inspired James Wright.  Although this is the only poem by James Wright that I have been exposed to, it has very similar qualities to that of a Wordsworth poem.  

        William Wordsworth explained his ideas on poetry in the selection “Preface to Lyrical Ballads.”  He says that when writing poetry he takes situations from everyday life and attempts to describe them in the everyday language of men. Yet, at the same time, presents them in an unusual way that includes imagination.  He also stated that ...

This is a preview of the whole essay