Analyzing Mary Oliver's Poem 'Wild Geese'

In Nate’s Marshall’s poetry collection Wild Hundreds, Marshall talks about the meaning of being a black person in America and the systemic oppression faced on a daily basis. He discusses issues such as police brutality, the criminalization of black people, the school to prison pipeline, the push out of black students in the educational system, systems preventing black people from succeeding, stereotypes of black people, the country’s lack of accountability in murdering black people, etc. His poetry also revolves heavily around the community he grew up in which is located in the Southside of Chicago. Marshall uses his revolutionary poetry to highlight the power and success in his community. Marshall discusses how this country kills black people for being

Furthermore, Mary Oliver’s use of first-person point of view allows her to show how poetry writing is personal to her, and how it serves a specific type of challenge. Mary Oliver starts off

Ambivalence can be seen in everyday life while being introduced into new environments. Whether the environment is a war camp or a university, there will be a change in course in which one will have to face the internal struggle of choosing right or wrong with the outcome determining one’s future. In “My First Goose”, Babel demonstrates these conflicts with the relationship between the narrator and his environment. With the narrator, Babel shows the internal conflict of right and wrong while facing the external struggle of fitting in to a foreign but desired environment.

In the poem by Joy Harjo called “Eagle Poem,” Harjo talks about prayer and life and how they revolve around mother-nature. She suggests that while being one with nature, we feel we are in a place in which we haven’t imagined and the things in which we would love to do in that magnificent and calming place. After one reads the poem, he/she enjoys the lyrical type of it. This is because “Eagle Poem” sticks to one idea and extends it throughout the entire poem. For instance, it talks about prayer, nature, and animals from start to finish.

The imagery used in this verse appeals to the sense sight. This helps the reader visualise what the writer is taking about. It also allows the reader to relate and connect more to the poem.

Most poetry authors give their poems abstract titles with deeper meanings within them, but Oliver did not choose to do that method. As soon as a reader sees the title of her poem, they will have an idea in their head of what the poem will be about. Doing this makes it more simple and easier to read, but at the same time relay an important message that Oliver wants readers to know. The poem revolves around the idea of oxygen and the life it brings to everything, and Oliver’s way of directly giving that hint to readers is in the

Firstly, Mary Oliver uses a fractured and unique structure to show that hardships must be present in order for one to attain success. The poem is structured in such a way so that it starts off describing the struggles of crossing a swamp and life in general. For example, Oliver states,

Spring is a poem that visibly illustrates this, representing the natural world to be full of wonder through imagery and metaphors without actually stating what the wonders are. The poem Spring observes a bear that has risen from hibernation due to the awakening of another season, spring. It’s “four black fists… flicking the gravel… her

Initially, Collins demonstrates how one can weigh a dog’s weight with his method. Concrete diction in the first stanza, such as, “ small bathroom”, “ balancing”, and “shaky” suggest the uncomfortable nature of his intimate relationship with his pet. Although Collin is unappreciated for the gritty toil determination, he praise himself to applauded that “this is the way” and raising his self-esteem by comparing how easier it is than to train his dog obesity. In addition, the negative diction used to describe Collin holding his dog to be “awkward” for him and “bewildering” for his pet. This establish he rather force love rather willing show patience. When holding a pet on scale, there is less hustle because he secures the dog’s position by carrying it. Where as when he orders the dog to stay on the weighing scale with a cookie, his dog only followed him because of the expected reward.

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

Mary Oliver is a highly-acclaimed poet that is well known for her spiritual and prophetic works. Her poems often speak of the sensuous world, and in doing so, raise philosophical questions that test the Judeo-Christian definition of human nature (Allen). Oliver’s spiritualism involving the natural world provokes the distinct lack of respect that so many people seem to have for nature; her hope is that the sense of wonder for nature that she employs in her poems will persuade how people view the world (Tassi). Mary Oliver is also known for examining the effects of an abusive childhood throughout various poems—she is inclined to give the harm that the abuse caused a name so that one can reclaim active responsibility of their mental health (Winslow). Throughout her poems, Oliver seems to invoke a transformation within herself, and she persuades the reader to do the same (Graham). In “Wild Geese,” Oliver

Poetry, for most poets, is a way to write down their feelings and express themselves. Because of this, their life experiences affect their poetry. In both Emily Dickinson’s poetry and Amanda Lovelace’s poetry, the use of poetic devices reflect the way their lives affect their poetry.

If she had presented an over detailed, extremely specific and complicated poem, the reader would more than likely be unable to grasp its concept and connect to its underlying meaning. Louise Glück’s use of poetic devices such as rhyme scheme, apostrophe, and imagery, as well as her simplistic and familiar language gives readers the ability to interpret and relate to her poem, “Dead End” in their own, unique

“The Arrow and the Song” is a relatively short, yet complex poem that takes some deep thinking to pull apart. The narrator shoots an arrow into the air, yet cannot follow it, for it soared across the sky, far into the unknown. The narrator also lets a song be heard to the world, also unable to follow this, because of course, you cannot see words with your eyes. After much time, he or she finds both unbroken, the arrow in an oak tree, and the song within a heart of a friend. However, the meaning of the poem runs much deeper than a simplistic story of someone shooting an arrow and letting loose a song, unable to find them until years later. The poem, upon being looked into, is actually a lesson that warns the reader to be wary of what they say, for we are unable to know of where the things we say will end up, or their effect. The theme is heavily pushed by repetition, along with a cleverly thought out use of words and symbolism, both fall into place nicely with the metaphors used.