When I attended Brown University in the early 70's, we were very fortunate to be visited quite often by fine poets. The readings were generally held in student lounges with about 50-75 people in attendance. When Richard Wilbur came to town, the reading took place in a large church down the hill to accomodate the hundreds of people who wanted to attend.
After he read "Love Calls Us To The Things of This World," I remember that Mr. Wilbur seemed upset because he had apparently read one of the words incorrectly (a small detail involving a preposition, I believe). I for one certainly hadn't noticed, but I remember that he seemed very disappointed at his minor mistake, and he told us that the slip had, in effect, ruined the poem. I was eighteen years old, newly interested in writing poetry, and his chagrin at such a small mistake was what made the biggest impression on me. It may seem obvious now, but it taught me the importance of every word.
He signed my copy of his collected works, and I proudly held onto that volume (with growing enjoyment of its contents) until three years ago when it burned up in a fire. I have a more recent Collected works now, this time in hardcover, but it lacks the autograph.
"Love Calls Us To The Things of This World" may be (predictably?) my favorite Wilbur poem, but there are many (including some written forty or fifty years later) that come quite close. I can't imagine a more "accurate" or moving rendition of my own daily waking than "The soul shrinks/ From all that it is about to remember" or a more satisfying resolution whereby the soul becomes unshrunk (I love those "ruddy gallows" and the "backs of thieves"). This is a poem that employs humor and wit yet (for me and many others) can move a person to tears.
These days I think we should be reading "Advice for a Prophet" more than ever. What more "accurate" phrase is there than "Our slow, unreckoning hearts"?
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