orionoconnell's review
5.0
This was my first dance with Mary Oliver, after seeing some excerpts of her poetry shared in various places (mostly by Misha Collins). I decided that I loved what I was reading, and traipsed to the library to grab what I could. This poem (in several parts) left me speechless in the way that any good story does. Oliver's words transport the reader into the feel of the poem in a way that I remember mostly from childhood: the warm feeling of developing a scene and story in your mind while reading along or being read to. I was there with her as she explored life's joys and sorrows through nature, and painted a masterpiece with words while explaining the artistry itself. I was in a daze as I finished, immediately wanting to pick it up again and exist in the serenity of her landscapes, observations and stylizations. I can't wait to read more of her works, and I can't wait to add this one to my bookshelf so that I can take a highlighter to the numerous parts that I imagine will stay with me and make me just think to myself 'wow', every once and awhile.
annebennett1957's review
5.0
I drank this one down in one gulp. Now I must go back and take smaller sips and enjoy the refreshment.
My thoughts: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2021/04/poetry-month-peek-at-writings-of-poet.html
My thoughts: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2021/04/poetry-month-peek-at-writings-of-poet.html
aiona's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
katrinflores's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
If you ever need a reminder what it’s like to feel alive again :-)
gvenezia's review
5.0
A sonorous ode to what the world is: the leaf, the cloud, the stone, the river: perfect in themselves, existing apart from humanity—and yet so bound up in our notions of the self, beauty, value, and the meaning of life. Mary Oliver meditates on the mundane, sublime, and beastly in nature, describing and redescrbiing how the boundaries of artificial and natural are more blurry and shifting than simple semantics lets on. A beautiful work of poetry for both its small moments and the breadth of its world-spanning vision.
bog_elfin's review
5.0
Reading Mary Oliver always helps me learn something about the world and about myself.
filaughn's review
5.0
As meditative and gorgeous as I'd expect from Mary Oliver. The thoughts around death and change, the nature, the peace of it - this is one I'll re-read.