James Wright “A BLESSING”

(Please you can contact using my Karisskevo@gmail.com , I would appreciate outside of the app
payment)
Like other nature poetry, James Wright's "A Blessing" starts with the intimate observation of the
natural world and progresses into a startling moment of self-revelation. The poem consists of a
single stanza of twenty-four unrhymed lines; the poem starts by declaring its geographic setting
—"Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota"—and the time of day—twilight. A Blessing is
based on an actual event James Wright experienced while with his friend Robert Bly, also a poet,
while on a late-night drive. The two pulled over to admire two Indian ponies; they watch as the
two ponies emerge from a group of willows and walk towards them. Caught in the moment, the
two "step over the barbed wire into the pasture" wire to interact with the horses, who show no
fear. Not only are the ponies are un-scared, but according to the speaker, their eyes are dark
"with kindness"; they "gladly" "welcome" the two, and they can hardly hold their happiness."
The poem builds up through a series of observations and interactions to a point where the author
is overwhelmed with emotions and encourages the prospect of transcendence—acknowledging
that humans can achieve immense sensual experience when in contact with nature.
The poem evokes nature as an inroad to the metaphysical. Although the poem is wistfully
serious, wright uses some touches of situational irony to pass his message. The interaction with
the ponies happens "just of the highway," symbolizing a human-made set of obstacles that
characterize our daily life routines. Further, the setting of "just of the highway" shows the gulf
between humans and nature. Moreover, the rift is illustrated by the presence of barbed wire. The
author and his friend have to go through the human-made boundary (barbed wire) to be one with
nature. The poem culminates with the poet wishing to break out of his body and "break into a
blossom" —something that is regarded as beautiful yet mindless; this is after his experience with
the slender pony— he describes its ear as "delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist" arousing
sensual emotions. The author's choice of an Indian pony is intriguing, considering he is white,
which brings out the theme of differences. The author describes the relationship between the two
horses as loving yet lonely, illustrating how humans fail to experience the love of accepting
"others" out of perhaps ignorance.
In this setting, the Indian pony might be symbolic of a lover that the author cannot be due to
cultural/ethnic differences. He must transgress through the self-imposed barriers to be truly
happy or experience love. What the author truly desires is beauty untainted by consciousness. By
crossing the barbed wire, the author wishes to cross the boundary of being. By referring to the
ponies, he hopes to overcome barriers of differences, ownership, and time. The poem is very
relevant in all aspects of human life and encourages us to overcome self-imposed obstacles to
achieve happiness. Such a desire for reincarnation is intriguing and brings the reader to the point
of self-evaluation of missed chances that occur because of the inability to accept things that
appear different. The poem has