Even in Quiet Places by William Stafford

First published: Lewiston, Idaho: Confluence Press, 1996

Genre(s): Poetry

Subgenre(s): Lyric poetry; meditation and contemplation

Core issue(s): Justice; nature; nonviolent resistance; truth; wisdom

Overview

William Stafford’s style, methods of composition, and command of themes had fully matured by the time he published his first book of poetry at the age of forty-six, and his second collection, Traveling Through the Dark (1962), won the National Book Award. In 1970 he became the national consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress. Throughout his career, Stafford wrote poetry that encouraged readers to contemplate their own experiences and beliefs in order to attain greater wisdom. He believed that readers who paid attention to the value of the commonplace would become advocates of tolerance and justice. Stafford’s faith in God and his commitment to equality dictated his use of a conversational style, one that shows respect for readers and renders his poetry accessible, entertaining, and cordial. His poems tell stories and advocate listing to nature as a source of peace and self-worth.

Stafford grew up in Kansas, where he was encouraged to explore the world around him. He credited his father for teaching him a deep appreciation of the natural world, and he attributed his fascination with language to his mother’s love of storytelling. Stafford’s parents were avid readers and nonconformists, committed to raising children who understood the importance of individuality and respect for others. Although Stafford’s mother maintained that Boy Scout uniforms were militaristic and refused to allow her sons to join, exploration of the natural world was encouraged, even to the degree that as a youth Stafford camped alone in the Cimarron River breaks—an experience he compared to a Native American vision quest. The excursion convinced him that the earth was his trustworthy home, a concept that became one of the strongest underlying themes in his later writing.

A conscientious objector during World War II, Stafford was incarcerated in Civilian Public Service Camps for four years, a formative experience from which he drew inspiration throughout his career as a writer. In the camps he and other residents practiced cooperative resistance by rising early to read and write before spending long days fighting fires and building trails. Stafford continued the practice of early-morning writing throughout his lifetime, stating that it fulfilled an almost devotional role.

Made up of poems written near the end of Stafford’s life, Even in Quiet Places is a collection of three previously published chapbooks and a fourth section, “The Methow River Poems,” originally composed for a public art project. The initial section of the book, “Who Are You Really, Wanderer? Pages in the Language of Respect & Conciliation,” begins with a proclamation against the improper use of language. In “Another Language,” Stafford urges speakers to avoid distortions and repetitions of the obvious, to respect the dignity of those addressed, and to tolerate improper usages more easily than discourtesy or dishonesty. Such concerns grew out of the suffering caused by duplicitous official communications during such events as the Vietnam War and the Watergate investigation, setting users free, Stafford believed, to live genuine lives. Readers are thus invited to experience the use of the new language in the poems that follow.

Stafford’s poems investigate common events but invite universal interpretations. Stafford writes of the spirit of place in locations such as a library, a country churchyard, and a Montana landscape. In poems exploring the meaning of place, Stafford gives voice to such entities as books, birds, snowflakes, and seasons. These “characters” advise and lead readers to consider the mysterious qualities of life. In “A Story I Have to Tell You,” the North Wind trumpets a gift from the earth as it blows against and around the statue of a wolf. Stafford speculates that the sound may represent more than a force of air; it may signify the existence of spiritual overtones within the ordinary.

The poems of Even in Quiet Places flow through time without regard to chronology, just as in his writing process Stafford accepted the importance of his daily thoughts on whatever topics and in whatever order they occurred. The poet reflects fondly upon his childhood in “A Farewell, Age Ten,” recalling how he said good-bye to his uncle’s rabbit. In “Coming to Know,” however, Stafford describes how watching a balloon rise has led him to consider his own maturity and the qualities of manhood he has inherited from his father.

No subject is too small or too large for Stafford, who draws meaning from all things, as in “Weeds in a Vacant Lot” and “The Way Trees Began.” In the poem “Men,” Stafford identifies building war memorials as the routine aftermath of conflict, along with the accompanying replay of events and psychological preparation for yet more conflict. By dealing with such issues, Stafford suggests the foolishness of relying on war as a solution, at the same time avoiding a strident tone. Some of his poems make playful observations, as in “Influential Writers,” which expresses Stafford’s frustration with self-important writers who drive the language itself to attempt to escape from their grasp.

Christian Themes

Although Stafford joined the Brethren Church as a young man and later attended the Presbyterian Church, he avoided dogmatic overtures and wrote little about traditional biblical topics. Instead, his poetry makes use of an interfaith approach in keeping with the goals of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an organization committed to fostering equality, compassion, and nonviolence. A lifelong member of this group, Stafford took care to write poetry that would not alienate readers of different spiritual traditions. Although in “A Glimpse, Age Five” a mother (ostensibly Stafford’s own) warns her family that bad children burn in hell, “In The [sic] Book” describes only a hand that is writing on a wall and a voice that says that “you” have failed. Later in the poem, the hand, the voice, and even the book disappear, leaving only an ongoing, compassionate spirit. In “Being Saved,” Stafford asserts that nature provides for us, explaining that segments of the sky and stretches of a river may fulfill our needs. He suggests further that a kind of pardon exists in whatever is at hand, perhaps something as humble as a ticket or a compass.

Stafford’s sense that justice resides in the earth is especially clear in his Methow River poems. In “You Can’t See It, But,” Stafford uses the metaphor of a life-filled river that flows underground while we humans live in a stony garden above. Our wisdom is limited to what we can know by reading earth messages ascertained through the study of roots and rocks. Other knowledge resides beyond our understanding, and we can only sense that heaven exists in realms beyond our comprehension. “Silver Star” characterizes a mountain as sturdy and patient, asserting that individuals who simulate such forbearance will be rewarded when God acknowledges their steadfast conduct.

Throughout his life, Stafford refused to write in complex poetic forms or to deplete his creative energy by focusing on revising and editing. Although he was criticized for his plain and supposedly simple style, Stafford believed that it was up to editors and readers to winnow the messages that he received as a result of his faith and perseverance as a writer. The poems in Even in Quiet Places often employ scriptural terminology and urge readers to engage in reverential activities, a satisfying conclusion to Stafford’s lifelong efforts to live as a peacemaker and poet.

Sources for Further Study

Andrews, Tom, ed. On William Stafford: The Worth of Local Things. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993. Collection of reviews and essays, including discussion of the far-reaching debate over Stafford’s method of writing.

Kitchen, Judith. Writing the World: Understanding William Stafford. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1999. Analysis of Stafford’s major works that illustrates his advocacy of moral and spiritual responsibility. Extensive bibliography.

Metres, Philip. “William Stafford’s Down in My Heart: The Poetics of Pacifism and the Limits of Lyric.” Peace and Change 29, no. 1 (January, 2004): 1-28. Reveals the relationships among Stafford’s wartime experiences, his insistence on the importance of community, and his pacifist utopian poetics.

Stafford, Kim. Early Morning: Remembering My Father. Saint Paul, Minn.: Graywolf Press, 2002. This thematic biography, written by Stafford’s son, describes the poet’s diverse accomplishments in writing, teaching, and parenting.

Stafford, William. Down in My Heart: Peace Witness in War Time. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1998. Stafford’s master’s thesis, first published by the Brethren Publishing House in 1947. Recounts Stafford’s experiences as a conscientious objector during World War II.