Here at An Tairseach poetry fits naturally with ecology and organic farming
It’s early April, and there are still some daffodils here at An Tairseach. There’s a lovely substantial line of them by one of our polytunnels in the convent garden. And in our conservation area, along an extended shelterbelt of beech hedging that was planted more than twenty years ago, a bright yellow ridge faces into a stand of mixed species trees. In that wood there are, despite the shade, many more daffodils, offering their temporary beauty as the mixed and mostly wet weather continues and the season continues to turn.
Over the next fortnight or so, as the daffodils fade (some are already on the turn) a range of summer wildflowers will start to emerge. Across the An Tairseach fields, particularly in our older hedgerows, the first stitchwort have appeared (with their ribbony green stems and precise white heads) and herb-Robert too (that gem of the cranesbill family, with its pinkish red stems), and primroses (bright legions of them on one or two ditches).
It seems a little earlier than last year. Or is that just our climate change anxiety talking?
Whatever the reason, we feel privileged to be able to enjoy these beautiful sights as a dimension of the true sustainability and care that are part and parcel of the organic farming method.
Organic farming is defined by extra attention, and in some ways extra labour, for the sake of the environment, and for the sake of quality in the food that is produced. Its emphasis on habitat creation, higher standards of animal welfare, and the boosting of biodiversity, together with key legal restrictions on pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilisers, make it a great example environmental stewardship.
Despite Ireland’s relatively low uptake in comparison to other EU countries, the organic sector has been growing steadily in recent decades. In 1993 there were 238 registered organic producers in Ireland, farming 5,800 hectares, and by 2001 there were 1,083 producers farming approximately 30,000 hectares. In 2020, according to the Central Statistics Office, there were 1,686 organic farm holdings, representing 1.3% of all farm holdings in the state, and the number of fully converted organic farm holdings was 1,540. The land area used for organic purposes was 73,799 hectares (≥180000 acres) of the 4,498,987 hectares in the state, or 1.6% of Irish farm land.
In 2023, the Irish government announced a budget of €256 million for its domestic version of the new five year EU Organic Farming Scheme; it also reported that in 2023 more than 2000 new applications for organic status were successful.
A relatively small piece of the pie, but undoubtedly this is all good news for nature and good news for Ireland; it also represents a world of positive experience and opportunity for farmers entering the sector.
A farmer who has converted their land from the conventional method to organic cannot escape the daily reminders of nature’s ability to rejuvenate itself, given the right balance of elements, and the important factors of understanding, respect and enthusiasm on the part of farmers themselves.
Here in An Tairseach, we are always on the lookout for ways to communicate our sense of understanding, respect and enthusiasm for the work we do in ecological education, organic farming, and organic retail.
Time and again we’ve seen the power of creativity in action in our annual series of lectures and workshops. By coming together as a community, in a spirit of like-mindedness, with a willingness to learn and a desire to work towards sustainability, the everyday sense of environmental helplessness can be replaced with and a sense of curiosity, purpose and hope.
A major underpinning of the work that has taken place at An Tairseach over the decades has been the idea of the interconnectedness of humanity and nature. In our ten week residential sabbatical course, a vibrant and diverse international community comes together at An Tairseach, to study deeply and to celebrate the transformative idea that the inherited boundaries that separate humanity from the natural world, and which create a sense of alienation for so many, can be overcome.
When that transformative idea is emphasised, we can see nature in a new light. And in turn our commitment to sustainable agriculture is understood anew. To farm organically, we believe, is to farm humanely, and ultimately, through the diligent establishment of healthier eco-systems and food systems, it is to work in the service of humanity.
The special levels of discussion and reflection that are central to the work we do at the An Tairseach ecology centre are grounded in reading and writing, and also in artistic and ritual practices which serve to make more accessible the foundations of our work: namely, a vision of the interconnectedness of humanity and nature.
While our daffodils are still with us, here is a classic daffodil poem that captures a sense of encounter between humanity and the natural world, and communicates connection, enthusiasm, and a special depth of insight, all in just four brief verses. The poem is ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ by William Wordsworth (1770-1850).
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
William Wordsworth
There have been more than two centuries of appreciative critical responses to this poem. But for our contemporary purposes, seeking to make a connection between literature and ecology, and between and creative writing and imaginative agriculture, we’ll add here a few more words of affirmation to Wordsworth’s legacy.
This poem covers a lot of ground. The reader receives vivid impressions of a solitary journey into nature in the first three verses, all of it, notably, presented in the past tense. The poet is looking back on an inspirational encounter, and while the lines are full of detail, the language remains direct. Notice how the whole poem is made up of only three sentences. The third verse flows into the fourth in a single expressive statement. One of the ways that Wordsworth makes this happen is through the trick of using colons instead of full stops. In this way he opens the gates of his word choices.
The famous singsong appeal of the rhyming scheme in this poem adds to the feeling of directness. Again we get a lot of detail, and a considerable amount of landscape, but Wordsworth knows how to weave accessibility and acoustic pleasure into his narrative.
It seems fitting that the word ‘I’ is used five times. This lyric poem has a personal focus, and among its key subjects are the serene longterm reaction to the experience within the poet’s own mind, and the curious power of perception that has revealed the beauty and abundance of the flowers.
The act of looking at the flowers and their place in the landscape is key in each of the first three verses. ‘All at once I saw’, ‘ten thousand saw I at a glance’. And then: ‘I gazed – and gazed – ’
By the fourth verse, the poet’s concern for outward perception has changed to a concern for inner vision. There’s a mysterious and meditative intensity to the poem’s conclusion. The daffodils have taken up permanent residence in the mind; they are a gift that keeps giving.
To read this poem closely and to discuss it is to have a chance to receive its celebrated power. Wordsworth knows how to put us into his shoes. If we go with him we can find out what we have in common across the centuries, and we can discover the relevance of poetry to our own troubled world.
Our real daffodils here at An Tairseach will be leaving us soon enough. We’ll see them again next year, and we’ll persevere in our work in the meantime, imagining now and then that we are under their influence, while keeping an eye out for the glories of summer, whatever the weather.