Mary Oliver establishes a dense atmoshpere of a swamp as a metaphor for the mundane to capture the nuanced expression in life tha calls for appreciation. Life is constantly accelerating and people often feel surmounted by obligations without any rest. Rather than porttraying the routine of life as a continous cycle with no end, Oliver admits to the profundity in repetition.
The physical structure of the poem visualizes the poem’s essence because there is a clear source of tension in each verse. Lines are moving across the page twoards the edge of the paper, but are then returned to their starting margin. Forward movement embodies the progression of daily life, but the return to the first grid evokes Oliver’s claim about the crucial tendency to feel connected to a deeper truth. The physical structure mirrors the speaker’s progression through the swamp/struggle. Oliver visualizes the human tendency to become carried away with life’s daily vigor, only when meaning and depth is captured that stability is viewed in one’s life.
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The “endless wet thick” atmosphere puts tension on the swamp itself, as it is teeming with the mundane. The “burred faintly belching bogs” embody the whim of life that fills background noise and is unavoidable. To have a swamp without noise would be to have life without hurry –unnatural and displaced. “Here” is stated as an open-ended existence as there are no words to follow in the line. The pause in “here” carries a controlled resistance as “here” is contemplated and sustained. Through the “here” is open, it is still attatched to the sense and thus in the
Oliver begins by describing the swamp in a way that displays it as unrelenting and immovable, a struggle. The author uses zeugmas such as “pathless, seamless, peerless” to demonstrate that the speaker’s difficult travel through the swamp does not disturb it. Furthermore, the speaker’s trial “for foothold, fingerhold, mindhold” portrays the swamp as a power that is untouchable and unchallenged by humans. This idea is further supported by the author’s personification, stating “here is swamp, here is struggle” because
mud, (Oliver 9). The speaker directed their attention to the swamp, the gentle flow of the poem
In passage one it shows respect for the unique environment of the swamp "floating mats of peat" are not at home in the midst of rivers as they are in Passage 2. In the first Passage since it was here to inform, they were given a scientific name, "hummocks," and they are accepted as part of the terrain. Additionally, the mental picture each purports is entirely in contrast with the other's Passage 1 yields "extensive prairies," "bald cypress trees festooned with moss," "meandering channels of open water," and "exotic flowers." The imagery that is pictures in the firs passage is of freedom, of beauty, of the easygoing simplicity and relaxation we seem idealize in nature. The moss "festooning" the "bald" cypress trees lends a sense of spirit and independent joy to the life in the swamp, a high order, but a place still flowing as freely as the water in its trees. the second passage, however, is not home to flowing water, it is home to "muck, mud, slime, and ooze." There are no flowers in this swamp, there are only "leaf-choked acres" yearning to end. Here, there are not "rare" species of flowers, but "seething galaxies of gnats... paramecia that exist only to compound the misery of life." Here, the swamp is not a place of joy or idealism, but a place of punishment, of agony, of torture and ugliness which is the imagery that the author chooses to show
Mark O’Connor begins the poem with one single line which emphasis the information that he is giving the reader. The continuation of this line from the rest of the poem to the next without a pause creates an urgency, which is used to emphasis the situation.
Readers are shown, through the use of structure, the challenges and feelings of going through the swamp. Gooey, sticky mud and the struggle of walking through it are visualized through a wave like structure. The waves represent a person moving forward with hefty and large steps. Oliver also incorporates enjambment in her poem to demonstrate a never ending journey. By avoiding the use of periods at the end of lines, we are show that the struggle of crossing
Born on September 10th 1935, Mary Oliver, as a teenager, briefly lived in the home of Edna St. Vincent Millay where helped the family with the passing of the poet. Oliver attended two college’s yet did not receive a degree. Her first collection of poems was published in 1963 and since then has published numerous books and received many awards. Many of Oliver’s poems feature an in depth relationship with nature, exploring the abstractions and complexities found within it. She also draws inspiration from her childhood memories, which allows for a more intimate look into the relationship between humans and nature.
The poem “Vultures” is a good introduction to what Mary Oliver’s perception of death is in the natural world. At its core, this poem speaks to the cycle of life and death more than anything, and how death is a natural part of life. For example, the
The poem, “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver is about a person that witnessed a truck running over a snake in the road and killing it. After she moves the snake to the bushes she beings to think about death and how sudden it can be. I enjoyed reading this poem because she explained the feelings of death and how unexpected it can be. This free verse poem’s use of metaphors and similes were an amusing and interesting way to describe death. Lastly, I enjoyed how the theme of the poem was portrayed by the snake and the event that ended its life. The author was able to depict that life is unpredictable and so is death through the use of literary terms.
The author’s use of certain images is important to the theme of the poem because they define the setting and they set the mood for the different parts of the poem. The first image introduced to the reader is that of the loaded gun. This is one of the most powerful images throughout the poem as it is, as we find, out also the speaker. A the first thing that is brought to the readers mind is the aurora of potential. The sheer potential for destruction and death that is associated with a loaded gun sets the mood for the rest of the poem to build from. The next image that is introduced is that of the “Corners.” This can be understood in multiple contexts. The first being a crossroads, a corner is an intersection between two walls or metaphorically two paths. The second interpretation is that of a dark and shadowy place for someone to lye in wait. Both of the interpretations are equally significant and the authors diction here was surely intentional. This image is particularly important because it defines the opening setting of the speaker. The following images such as “Sovereign Woods,” “Doe,” and “Mountains” serve to change the setting. In the next stanza images such as “cordial light,” “valley glow,” and “Vesuvian face” serve to change the mood to an eerie almost frightening allusion to power. The next images “Yellow Eye,” and “emphatic Thumb” are incorporated into the poem to further the setting of this mood.
There is also a sense of acuteness as the words in this stanza are short and sharp, and the lines clash and seem to contrast greatly. " Whispering by the shore" shows that water is a symbol of continuity as it occurs in a natural cycle, but the whispering could also be the sound of the sea as it travels up the shore. The end of this section makes me feel as if he is trying to preserve something with the "river mud" and "glazing the baked clay floor. " The fourth section, which includes four stanzas of three lines, whereas the third section included four-line stanzas and the second section included two-line stanzas, shows continuity once again, as if it's portraying the water's movement. "Moyola" is once again repeated, and "music" is also present, with "its own score and consort" being musical terms and giving the effect of harmony.
The run-on line could also be interpreted as a representation of the child’s speech, which is cut and uneven because of his cheerfulness and need for a breath. Moreover, the word choices of the author, particularly words such as “snatched”, “quick”, “look”, “sudden” help to reinforce the pace of the poem and thus forces the reader to read quickly through the lines.... ... middle of paper ... ...
When first reading “Edge”, one will immediately be able to note that the poem’s flow is very peculiar. This is, in a very large part, due to the brevity and abstractness of each stanza throughout this piece of work. Plath is immediately able to make the reader think by organizing the flow of the poem in such a unique style. At first it is hard to pay attention to the contents of the poem without being distracted by the organization of it. Although it may appear pointless at first, there is a reasoning behind the structure and stylistic tendencies; “Edge” conveys a very dark and a very bleak tone throughout its entirety. Tone can be shown through some very subtle, and some rather obvious events throughout the poem. The
Upon introduction to Mary Oliver’s poem, titled “Wild Geese”, there appeared to be a skin of geese flying freely in the sky. Furthermore, the poetry informs people not to spend their lifetime repenting of the past and asking for forgiveness. Also, the poet encourages the readers to be strong, it is not the end of the world, even if they are in the deepest depth of their despair. However, it is the reality that they must face, because the life is not always perfect. After analyzing the poem, Oliver compares the nature’s condition to the human condition by using elements of poetry, such as the tone, symbolisms, and theme to express the images of freedom and the importance of every human being in the world to follow their heart.
Oliver doesn’t seem to be asking these questions to an audience, introspectively. By writing them down and publishing the words in poetry, Oliver simply allows other people to analyze themselves in the same way. I found this reassuring because it makes the emotion expressed in the poem seem more genuine. “Do you think there is anywhere, in any language, a word billowing enough for the pleasure that fills you, as the sun reaches out,” (stanzas 6/7). The imagery of “filling” and “reaching out” confident that Mary Oliver writes out of necessity for her soul, not anything worldly. She wants the essence of connectedness with the universe to fill her half-full cup; I need it to fill my half-empty
Alliteration and consonance play a key role in breaking the rhythmic pattern, as well as adding to the personification of the forest, the river, and the wind. The forest’s human-like characteristics are important, because they show that the skater is not alone, even though he is in the middle of nowhere. The shifting mood of the poem depends upon the building up of patterns; when the pattern is broken nature awakens and acknowledges the skater’s presence. The form of the poem reads steadily as the skater enjoys the wonders of untouched nature, but when the silence is broken and the trees around the skater awake the speed of the poem rapidly picks up. The combination of enjambment and the couplet form adds to the interconnectivity of the poem, while some sentences are prematurely cut short, creating variety between each line. It is clear that without these patterns the poem would be incomplete, they play an important role in creating and setting differing moods of the poem, while also enhancing the scenery and providing the wilderness with a life-like