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 overwhelming weight sensed in the first lines centralizes the human core in the center of the swamp.
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
present. Associationg the “swamp” directly to “struggle” to address the difficulty imposed upon by life’s repeating course. However, “closure–” is offerred. Oliver abruptl connects life to struggle, which then find an extended closure. The “–” after “closure” carries the thought of the bordeer of the page which breaks all tension and assumption. Olver challenges trandition formatting andtthus the traditional mindset of accepting the boredom and pain in life by suspending thought within a single dash. Though the sentence resumes, as does the path of life, a clear shif is established. Ironically, the course of ife that has been clearly established is “pathless” and “seamless,” until the individual provides meaning. Only when human anatomy is references does the path grasps a basis for being, revealing the existential existential comtemplation suggested by Oliver. “My bones” and there is a clear discussion of endpoints. Tension is undoubtedly supposed as “bones knock.” The movement requires
Humankind has been facing and conquering problems, droughts, famines, and wars for instance, since the beginning of its existence. Throughout an individual’s life, obstacles arise and challenges present themselves in an attempt to inhibit the individual from moving forward. In her poem Crossing the Swamp, Mary Oliver utilizes a variety of techniques to expand on this idea, establishing a relationship between the speaker and the swamp as one of determination and realized appreciation.
mud, (Oliver 9). The speaker directed their attention to the swamp, the gentle flow of the poem
Nature’s beauty has the ability to both entice its audience and frighten them. Mary Oliver in her passage explains her experiences with the two sides of nature. Her experiences with the owls elicit both an awe response and a frightened one. In connection, her experiences with a field of flowers draws a similar response where she is both astonished by them and overwhelmed. Oliver’s complex responses display the two sides of nature. It's ability to be both captivating yet overwhelming in its complexity. In “Owl” Mary Oliver uses descriptions of nature demonstrated by owls and fields of flowers in order to convey her complex responses to the two sides of nature.
Although this section is the easiest to read, it sets up the action and requires the most "reading between the lines" to follow along with the quick and meaningful happenings. Millay begins her poem by describing, in first person, the limitations of her world as a child. She links herself to these nature images and wonders about what the world is like beyond the islands and mountains. The initial language and writing style hint at a child-like theme used in this section. This device invites the reader to sit back and enjoy the poem without the pressure to understand complex words and structure.
Therefore, Oliver’s incorporation of imagery, setting, and mood to control the perspective of her own poem, as well as to further build the contrast she establishes through the speaker, serves a critical role in creating the lesson of the work. Oliver’s poem essentially gives the poet an ultimatum; either he can go to the “cave behind all that / jubilation” (10-11) produced by a waterfall to “drip with despair” (14) without disturbing the world with his misery, or, instead, he can mimic the thrush who sings its poetry from a “green branch” (15) on which the “passing foil of the water” (16) gently brushes its feathers. The contrast between these two images is quite pronounced, and the intention of such description is to persuade the audience by setting their mood towards the two poets to match that of the speaker. The most apparent difference between these two depictions is the gracelessness of the first versus the gracefulness of the second. Within the poem’s content, the setting has been skillfully intertwined with both imagery and mood to create an understanding of the two poets, whose surroundings characterize them. The poet stands alone in a cave “to cry aloud for [his] / mistakes” while the thrush shares its beautiful and lovely music with the world (1-2). As such, the overall function of these three elements within the poem is to portray the
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
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.
In Mary Oliver's poem crossing the swamp, Oliver describes the journey of crossing the swamp, however, a deeper understanding through metaphoric work is shown. The speaker's relationship with the swamp is challenging but loving, revealing how despite the challenges in life, one can still grow.
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 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.
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 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
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
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