How Does Mary Oliver Use Alliteration In Crossing The Swamp

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In “Crossing the Swamp,” Mary Oliver illustrates the intimate, primal relationship of the

speaker to the swamp. The poet uses rich imagery to show the vibrancy and life of the swamp

and metaphor to show how closely connected the speaker is to the muddy land. Oliver also

employs parallel structure and alliteration to emphasize lovely, rich depictions of the swamp and

to show the speaker’s deep-rooted love for the area. Her devotion to the swamp, intimacy with

it, and vibrant depictions of its natural bounty reveal the theme of the poem: the beauty of nature

and our connection to it.

This poem is rife with imagery. The poet employs colorful depictions of the swamp, like

“...nugget of dense sap, branching

vines...” and “...a breathing palace of leaves” to paint a
vibrant picture of the swamp. The effect of this imagery is to show that the swamp is alive and
beautiful, and the speaker’s relationship with the swamp is developed as reverent towards this
rich land.

The reverential mood that her imagery creates clearly shows the reader the theme of

the poem--nature’s beauty. The life of the swamp is connected to the life of the speaker, who is

described as pale and bony in comparison to the rich jungle that surrounds her. This furthers the

reverential mood and shows the reader how small the speaker feels in comparison to the grand,

rich, lovely swamp.

Metaphor in the last two stanzas reveals the speaker’s purpose for coming to the

swamp, as well as developing her intimate, dependent relationship on the muddy mounds.

Oliver describes the speaker as “a bough that still, after all these years, could take root, sprout,

branch out, bud--make of its life a breathing palace of leaves.” This shows that the speaker

intimately relies on the swamp for rejuvenation. Her return “after all these years” shows that her

separation from the rich bounty of nature is the reason that she was pale and bony, and that in

“crossing the swamp” she is returning to her roots in the natural world. Her crossing is the

journey in the poem, building the theme of nature’s beauty by showing the intimate affect it

can
have on us. Oliver shows, through her use of metaphor and description of the rejuvenating
power of the swamp, that nature is woven throughout all of us, and we, like the speaker of this
poem, are not truly alive unless we are in the swamp.

Parallel structure and alliteration play a large role in emphasizing depictions of the

swamp and creating rhythm in the poem. When Oliver describes the swamp, she often does so

with alliterative sets of words such as “burred faintly belching bogs,” “pathless...peerless mud,”

“hipholes, hummocks,” and many more. Her use of alliteration draws attention to the imagery in

the poem, which places a great importance on the beauty of the swamp and, along with the

imagery itself, helps emphasize the development of a reverent, intimate relationship between

speaker and swamp. Parallel structure, such as Oliver’s listing of verbs “foothold, fingerhold,

mindhold” and “root, sprout, branch out, bud” has a similar effect, emphasizing parts of the

poem. The parts that it emphasizes are mainly the speaker’s actions during her crossing of the

swamp, bringing the reader’s mind back to the journey while imagery absorbs the reader in the

rich, deep scenery. By keeping some focus on the speaker’s actions in the swamp, the author

shows again how intimately connected the speaker is with the swamp, building her

dependent,
reverent, beautiful relationship with the swamp and the theme of our beautiful connection to
nature.
In her poem “Crossing the Swamp,” Mary Oliver explores a journey of connection and
rediscovery. Through metaphor, rich imagery, and alliteration and parallelism, the poet shows
that the speaker is intimately related to this beautiful land. In revealing the theme of the poem,
our speaker’s journey teaches the reader that we all are dependent and connected to nature’s
pristine, rich beauty.
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