Mary Oliver Essays

The Performers and the Observers London, 1947 Oliver knocked on the door for the third time. An old friend had invited him over. Oliver didn’t ask for a reason; he didn’t need one. He had known this man for decades. The door creaked open. “Oh, um, hey there, Ollie.” “Hello, Arthur.” Arthur was a mess. His beard was half shaven, clothes stained, and hair left to grow like weeds. “Yeah, um, hi. I had to wait and make sure it wasn’t some government officer, you know, that it was really you

During this scene of the chapter, the reader is introduced to a room in which Oliver is grateful to call his own. It is in this room where one would walk in to find Oliver sitting by a window, amidst piles of books, studying to further his knowledge about the world. The author uses this room as a symbolic image to represent Oliver’s starting point on his path to an education. The room happens to be on the “ground-floor” of the novel because his journey has only just begun. The books that pile themselves

“Oxygen” by Mary Oliver is a love poem about her lover’s breathing problem and the love they share. The poem carries a gentle and somber tone as it journeys through the stanzas. Oliver makes good use of metaphors and images to convey her emotions so that the reader can experience her feelings. The opening image I get while reading this poem is of an evening scene in a room lit by only the flames of firewood sitting in the fireplace. The room is warmed by, “…the fire, stirring with a/

“ The Journey “ by Mary Oliver is an easy to read poem, yet the overall message is so powerful. The title speaks for itself for the reason being that, “ The Journey “ is literally about a journey one takes throughout their life. One day you wake up and realize this is not the life you want to be living, so you begin to transition. However, with this transition comes hardships that weigh you down and make it seem impossible to succeed. Once you leave all the negativity and keep the determination and

experiences in their compositions. Mary Oliver exhibits this technique by incorporating her tough childhood into her poetry. “…with words, I could build a world I could live in. I had a very dysfunctional family, and a very hard childhood. So I made a world out of words. And it was my salvation” (Shriver). As a result of her sufferings, Oliver also turned to nature for inspiration. Mary Oliver’s works focused on her observations in nature, which provided an escape from reality. Mary Oliver’s experiences in

all the way. Otherwise, don't even start” (Bukowski). Charles Bukowski and Mary Oliver had this mindset when writing the two poems, “The Laughing Heart” and, “The Journey”. Both poets believed that in order to “beat death in life,” you must take chances (Bukowski 13). Throughout “The Laughing Heart”, Charles Bukowski maintains a central theme: you aren't living unless you seize opportunities in life. Along with that, Mary Oliver’s “The Journey” shows the reader that inner strength is necessary to

Mary Oliver’s lyric poem, “The Journey”, is an engaging and uplifting depiction of the slow yet crucial and significant path to individuality. Written in succinct free-verse and strewn with images illustrating the obstacles and hardships that fill one’s life, along with images portraying the eventual surmount of these afflictions, “The Journey” provides readers with a sense of hope that one day they will find their voice, their identity. Through the use of compelling visual and metaphorical imagery

Mary Oliver is a contemporary poet whose work spans over 30 years. She gives readers the opportunity to think more abstractly. She is a poet who puts an emphasis on imagination, to allow oneself to see the beauty of nature within the world, despite the era we might live in. Americans living in the 21st century have an abundance use of technology allowing people to only focus on social media, never stopping to appreciate the beauty of nature or the beauty of life. Mary Oliver’s is a poet of knowledge;

"Crossing the Swamp," a poem by Mary Oliver, confesses a struggle through "pathless, seamless, peerless mud" to a triumphant solitary victory in a "breathing palace of leaves." Oliver's affair with the "black, slack earthsoup" is demonstrated as she faces her long coming combat against herself. Throughout this free verse poem, the wild spirit of the author is sensed in this flexible writing style. While Oliver's indecisiveness is obvious throughout the text, it is physically obvious in the shape

and mystifying inhabitants. In “Owls”, Mary Oliver is fascinated by the alluring aspects of the landscapes surrounding her; yet, she also seems to be frightened due to nature’s predators and dangers. These perplexing emotions are evident throughout the passage as Oliver describes her encounters with owls and flowerbeds. Through a variety of syntax and amusing paradoxes, Oliver is able to successfully convey her puzzling feelings towards nature. Mary Oliver uses a diversity of word arrangements in

the women’s review of books that Mary Oliver is the indefatigable guide to the natural world. What did Oliver observe that could inspire her to write the poem Wild Geese? Any reader of this poem will find it full of meaning. Nature has always spoken to humanity for generation. Oliver is talking directly to her reader imploring them to not worry so much about being good, rather, the reader should be true to nature and the beauty found in it. Throughout the poem Oliver use the word “you “to speak to

What are the things i need to fulfill in life to become great. Everyone has a purpose,there may be times when you’re stuck,and you’re lost but, keep going so that you can find your why. For example in the poem Journey by Mary Oliver it says “each voice cried,but you didn’t stop”(Oliver 11-12) This refers to it as perseverance in life,and to keep going no matter what.Life itself is a moving word,one way to find your purpose in life is to live and grow.When i think of the word grow I think of process and

Is it necessary for individuals to change themselves for the better? Although both “The Journey” and “Wild Geese” are both written by Mary Oliver, the latter takes a more open minded approach to the question. “The Journey” by Mary Oliver addresses theme of self through using second person pronouns, creating a stronger connection with the reader. Throughout the poem, the speaker never identifies themselves through first person pronouns. Instead, lines such as “One day you finally knew / what you

One of the most essential parts of a good story, the theme of a text has the important role of illustrating the motifs and messages that the story carries. The short story “Pharmacy” by Elizabeth Strout and the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver both posses powerful themes expressing that nobody should feel the need to conform to society and try to make everyone’s life better for the sake of one’s own satisfaction, for there is risk of losing one’s own character by doing so. In “Pharmacy”, the main

their life, hit a wall of negativity. Mary Oliver, in her poem, “The Journey,” emphasizes the trouble negativity has in the accomplishment of her goal, and later on how she pushes through it. Oliver’s purpose of writing this poem is to motivate those who may not have the overall strength to conquer all the hardship that is against them. She adopts an ardent tone in order to attract an audience who may be lost within life and to pull them into her writing. Oliver used emotion, voice, and ethos in order

Mary Oliver in her poem, “Crossing the Swamp,” utilizes allegory, alliteration, metaphor, and tone to convey an intricate relationship between herself and the swamp, that being her struggles in her life. A relationship that starts out with fear and ends in acceptance, stagnation to triumph, darkness to light; a relationship that allows her to be reborn. The swamp is a metaphor, described as “struggle, closure,” “the center of everything;” the swamp represents the obstacles Oliver faces in her life

“Ghosts” Nature makes up the entire structure of our world and has a very powerful effect when implemented into poetry. Mary Oliver does an exquisite job of diving into the topic of settling the United States and participating in the destroying of animals and humans along with their habitats in her poem “Ghosts”. This poem strongly portrays the negative effects from domesticating North America. The first line of the poem creates some tension by asking “Have you noticed?”. The question is completed

In the poem “The Swamp” by Mary Oliver the speaker talks about their relationship with the swamp. We can compare her struggles with something in our own life, wither it is school, work, or just your personal life. We can sew a struggle between the swamp and speaker through her word choice but also the imagery that the poem gives off. Imagery is used in the poem to get the reader involved in what a swamp might look and smell like. “here is struggle, closure pathless, seamless, peerless mud”, from

proves true, as nature functions as an impeccable place for one to reflect and rebuild, and also grants the opportunity to unearth one’s true identity. Burroughs does not stand-alone as he takes advantage nature’s comforting powers; the speakers of both Mary Oliver’s “August” and Yusef Komunyakaa's “Blackberries” also turn to nature as a refuge from their own troubles. The subjects of both poems, each confronted with a similarly daunting situation, seek refuge from life’s hardships through the symbolic

Refugee Tales by David Herd and Anna Pincus is a compilation of stories that give light to those who are branded 'refugee' and elucidate the dehumanizing situations they were forced to face through it all. Patience Agbabi's "The Refugee Tales" is an compelling poem of Farida's life and to add to that, as a refugee. Rather than writing as a simple story or narrative, she decides to write it as a crown of sonnets, as a way to make it more engaging in a way of changing the typical sentence structures