This beautifully organized book shares the poems, journal entries, insights, and observations of the poet Philip Britts, a passionate proponent of non-violence, farmer, and verse-maker. The majority of readers will be coming to Britts's poetry for the first time, and to this end the editors have structured the book as a kind of long feature profile. Organized into five sections, "Wilderness," "Ploughing," "Planting," "Cultivating," and "Harvesting," the book takes readers with Britts on a journey from war-torn England to Paraguay where the poet learns to cope with a stringent and punishing environment in a pacifist community.

The story itself is extraordinary, and Britts's message of egalitarianism and universal brotherhood, coupled in his conviction that man's natural environment to experience God is on the land, could not be timelier. Transcendental in his beliefs, in its best mode Britts's poems exhibit something of the 19th century American movement:

"But who can show strong men, as these,
The things that will abide,
The one Adventure, one great Quest
From which there is no pause nor rest
When once the search is tried;
Where those who search and struggle
and, daring, drink the wells of Death,
And find the water sweet?
There is but one Adventure,
The seeking for the Truth,
One prize for those who find it--
Everlasting Youth."

His collection will entrance and bring joy to nature-lovers and poetry-lovers alike.

3.5 Stars

Part biography, part collection of poetry, Water at the Roots gives a multi-faceted look at the life and writings of Phillip Britts. The height of his poetry coincided with WWII which influenced some of his writings. Pacifist, husband, farmer, poet, all of his roles are reflected in his poetry.

This one didn't really grab me. It is the story of a British Bruderhof farmer who lived during World War Two. He died very young in Paraguay, leaving behind a wife, children and his poetry and other writings.

It has a bit of a Wendell Berry flavor about it, but just didn't seem to resonate with me and shake me the way Wendell Berry's writings do. That said, you might think differently, so if you like books in this vein, you should give it a try.

This is both a collection of poems and a biography of Philip Britts, a farmer, who was away ahead of his time and he spoke about it.
There's this phrase that summed up my reading experience and in part the purpose of the book "One of the great tragedies of the modern world is the complete divorce of the city dwellers from nature and the land..."
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.