Jump to content

RIP Mary Oliver


dinneR

Recommended Posts

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/17/577380646/beloved-poet-mary-oliver-who-believed-poetry-mustn-t-be-fancy-dies-at-83

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

  • Awesome 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what makes it poetry then?  Poetry has always instantly turned me off and caused my eyes to glaze over.   But this is definitely better. I'll have to check her oot  thanks!

I do like Joyce Kilmer's tree though. Maybe because he is a native son of NJ.  His rest stop is nice too. :D

Or maybe it is that whole man bites dog thing of a man named Joyce. :D  (Or that I love to show how erudite I am that I know that. :D )

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

So what makes it poetry then?  Poetry has always instantly turned me off and caused my eyes to glaze over.   But this is definitely better. I'll have to check her oot  thanks!

I do like Joyce Kilmer's tree though. Maybe because he is a native son of NJ.  His rest stop is nice too. :D

 

I think poetry has to have words that rhyme with Nantucket or China.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

So what makes it poetry then?  Poetry has always instantly turned me off and caused my eyes to glaze over.   But this is definitely better. I'll have to check her oot  thanks!

I do like Joyce Kilmer's tree though. Maybe because he is a native son of NJ.  His rest stop is nice too. :D

 

She's the best Ralph. Her poetry is very accessible. Get to your library and pick up her New and Selected Poems Vol. 1. Buy a copy of Felicity for your wife for Valentine's Day. You're welcome.

"Mary Oliver isn't a difficult poet," Franklin says. "Her work is incredibly accessible, and I think that's what makes her so beloved by so many people. It doesn't feel like you have to take a seminar in order to understand Mary Oliver's poetry. She's speaking directly to you as a human being."

Oliver told NPR that simplicity was important to her. "Poetry, to be understood, must be clear," she said. "It mustn't be fancy. I have the feeling that a lot of poets writing now, they sort of tap dance through it. I always feel that whatever isn't necessary should not be in the poem."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

So what makes it poetry then?  Poetry has always instantly turned me off and caused my eyes to glaze over.   But this is definitely better.

I used to go to poetry slams at the Green Mill in Chicago when I lived there, there really are some talented people who can string some words together.  I can't get into reading much of it, though, in my mind it must be spoken if I am going to be considering it fully.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...