A Tribute to Wendell Berry, 1934-2026
The Mad Farmer Poems
“Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed….Practice resurrection.”
Wendell Berry, Manifesto: The Mad Farmers Liberation Front
Since their first publication as a collected set in 2008, Wendell Berry’s The Mad Farmer Poems have gathered what must be described as a worldwide cult following! “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” and “The Mad Farmer Manifesto: The First Amendment” distill the credo for a good life with alarming efficiency and a sly overbite. None have spoken with more clarity and gravity, maintaining humor and sarcasm throughout, than Wendell Berry’s Mad Farmer.
Wendell endorsed Jim’s 1992 poem about The Mad Farmer, “The Mad Farmer Stands up in Kentucky for What He Thinks is Right”, and adopted it as the Introduction to the collection. Click the link below and hear it read by the author:
The Mad Farmer Stands Up in Kentucky For What He Thinks Is Right
(©1992, Larkspur Press, Monterey, KY)
Wendell dedicated the sixth poem in the series to James Baker Hall, titled
“Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer”
I
“[ … ] A good man would pray only for himself … Praying thus for himself, he should prepare to live with the consequences.
V
[ … ] Don’t own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire.
XIII
[ … ] Make the human race a better head. Make the world a better piece of ground.”
