Her special gift is to connect us with our sources in the natural world, its beauties and terrors and mysteries and consolations.' -Stanley Kunitz 'Mary Oliver's poetry is fine and deep it reads like a blessing. Although few poets have fewer human beings in their poems than Mary Oliver, it is ironic that few poets also go so far to help us forward.' -Stephen Dobyns, New York Times Book Review These poems sustain us rather than divert us. Oliver's poetry, no whining, but neither is there the sense that life is in any way easy. What changes is an increased focus on nature and an increased precision with language that has made her one of our very best poets. 'One of the astonishing aspects of Oliver's work is the consistency of tone over this long period. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. "Do you cherish your humble and silky life?" She makes us see the extraordinary in our everyday lives, how something as common as light can be "an invitation/to happiness, /and that happiness, /when it's done right, /is a kind of holiness, /palpable and redemptive." She illuminates how a near miss with an alligator can be the catalyst for seeing the world "as if for the second time/the way it really is." Oliver's passionate demonstrations of delight are powerful reminders of the bond between every individual, all living things, and the natural world.
"Do you love this world?" she interrupts a poem about peonies to ask the reader. Mary Oliver's perceptive, brilliantly crafted poems about the natural landscape and the fundamental questions of life and death have won high praise from critics and readers alike.
This collection features thirty poems published only in this volume as well as selections from the poet's first eight books. Since its initial appearance it has become one of the best-selling volumes of poetry in the country.
Mary Oliver was awarded the National Book Award for New and Selected Poems, Volume One.
0 kommentar(er)
