“A Blessing”
The poem, “A Blessing” by Wright revolves around two Indian ponies and two horse lovers. When the narrator and his companion are driving past a farm on the highway, they notice the ponies grazing behind a fence. They stop the car to play with the ponies, just for a moment. They get closer to the ponies by jumping over the fence. The ponies seem friendly, and they welcome them and his companion happily. They are finally at home now that they have company. The narrator and his companion, in line 586 are seen to be happy of the horses that they see as the narrator describes them as a welcoming sign. The ponies have been grazing in the pastures all day alone, and they bring out the sense of loneliness or abandonment. The couple takes time to pet the lonely animals something that makes them hysterically happy. “They ripple tensely; they can hardly contain their happiness.”(Line. 9) The narrator lets his mind wander and in lines 20-21, he compares the ponies to a woman; however, he soon realizes his error and he steps back. He sadly remembers that the pony is not human rather it is an animal. The poem has a woman’s aura. In addition, the poem shows the narrators love for horses. The title “blessing” could be interrelated to mean that ponies, according to the narrator, are a blessing, and being around them makes him get a feeling of being blessed. (Gillespie et al 845)
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Individualism and community represent the key scopes of national cultures. Individualism represents a community where every person takes care of himself and those close to them. In this culture, it is every man for him. However, community or collectivism represents a culture where people get united into strong, cohesive groups where individuals look out for each other and live as one family. In the poem, the narrator describes the ponies as having been left to graze in the pastures all alone the whole day. They are lonely thus are happy to get the couples attention. The ponies love each other and live together and do everything together. This can be taken as community living. However, the ponies live in loneliness secluded from the rest of the world. As a result of this, they feel abandoned. Their eyes are filled with kindness and happiness when the narrator pets them. They are happy to be petted and showered with love. This could symbolize how much the society overlooks the plight of animals and only recognize them when they need them. This is individualism where the farmer secludes himself from the ponies instead of taking care of them. (Gillespie et al 845)
Individualism entails independence and self reliance. It causes one to be separated from the other parts of the world. Just like the ponies, they got separated from the rest of the world by a fence, and to get to them, the narrator and his companion had to climb over the barbed wire fence. However, the two ponies, in their isolation rely on each other for company. The narrator describes the ponies as feeling at home and munching peacefully. . (Gillespie et al 845)
This shows how much every living being needs companionship. The ponies are happy that the narrator and his companion took an interest in them. Although they had spent the day in the pastures all day, they found peace eating in the company of others irrespective of the fact that they were strangers. As individuals, the ponies were relying on themselves for companionship. However, their need for others got revealed when the couple joined them. This shows that people need each other, and neither individuality nor community can exist without the other.
