Reviews

New and Selected Poems, Volume One by Mary Oliver

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krobinson9292's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

4.0

monicadery's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely lovely. I didn't really know what to expect going in but it was so much better than I anticipated. The various images and descriptions of death and dying weren't alarming like the topic normally is for me, rather they were comforting, humanizing, and real. So many images of life and the necessity of the natural world in order for us to truly flourish. I will definitely be buying more of her books of poetry.

The titles of my favorite poems in this volume are:
Poppies
The Sun
Some Questions You Might Ask
Moccasin Flowers
The Buddha's last Instruction
The Ponds
The Summer Day
Wild Geese
Starfish
The Journey
One or Two Things
The Moths
In Blackwater Woods
The Lamps
At Blackwater Pond

classiccaitlin's review against another edition

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5.0

What a gift to read Mary Oliver's work 🩷 Here are some of my favourite poems from this collection:

When Death Comes
Morning
The Sun
Winter
October
Lilies
The Summer Day
Wild Geese
Robert Schumann
First Snow
Ghosts
Strawberry Moon

adonisroses's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective

5.0

I am so many!
What is my name?

What is the name
of the deep breath I would take
over and over
for all of us? Call it

whatever you want, it is
happiness, it is another one
of the ways to enter
fire.

i haven’t had my brain rewired by a book in such a long time, and it’s certainly never been rewired by poetry that speaks so strongly of the beauty of life—almost always, the nature of poetry to me has been to articulate pain’s little specificities. mary oliver is the opposite. her poetry speaks to life’s glorious lack of simplicity in the simplest terms. there is no separation between humanity and nature except for the lies we tell ourselves, and yet those lies are tangible as a human in nature, at times. it speaks to me as truth. what beautiful things does the world still have in store for me? i am working very hard to love my life. i can’t wait to revisit her work after i’ve lived more of it.

flairofclaire's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing slow-paced

eliocean's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

5.0

Mary Oliver; you are light and calm and lovely and beautiful and a magician with your words. Fate keeps choosing me lately and I am in complete awe and appreciation. My lovers full name was written in this book as a poem title— what else could this be but tenderness and devotion to some cluster of letters. I will be going back and re-reading this often. Phenomenal