Milkweed again
By Peter Leithart
My friend John Barach offers a further gloss on the Richard Wilbur poem I discussed here yesterday. He suggests that the final lines about the milkweed possessing the field allude to Psalm 37:9, 11: Those who wait on the Lord, the humble, inherit the land. And of course that anticipates Jesus’ promise that the “meek will inherit the earth.”
John hears a scrambled echo of that promise in the title of Wilbur’s poem: “Milkweed” unscrampled is “meek will.”
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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