Blackberries for Amelia by Richard Wilbur is a simple poem to go along with a simple pleasure: picking blackberries with a grandchild. The descriptions leading up to the picking give the simplicity incredible imagery, but they seem feel endless; as does the time it takes for the berries to ripen. “Dark berries, savage-sweet and worth the wait.”
The structure of the poem is interesting: it is a timeline for a blackberry bush – not something poets commonly write about. It is not original in the sense that it is a small detail in life that had a major impact on someone’s life, but the fact that the majority of the poem is about the process of blackberries ripening gives it the aspect of being original.
The antecedent scenario for Blackberries for Amelia is a grandparent picking and talking with their grandchild. The time affected the grandparent so greatly, the story of the bushes blooming and the berries growing and the grandparent and grandchild picking needed to be told.
Very thoughtful. I think the timeline of the berry bush reflects, too, the timeline of "Amelia" and her life and growing. Maybe? :)
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