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dukegregory's review against another edition
3.5
A lot more vicious and viscous than I assumed Mary Oliver would be (solely based on the popular imagination surrounding why her work resonates so). Grief and violence are brought about viscerally via the natural image, but what I think Mary Oliver brings to the table is a series of images that maintain motion and presence. Flora and fauna are rarely static. The natural is often both a given and unknowable, and that dichotomy of the obvious and unclear presents a breeding ground of the erotic, the spiritual, and the distinctly corporeal. A lot of these poems were just okay for me, but there were a number that made me stop and reread. It's a winsome collection.
tleewgirl's review
5.0
I would give it 4.5 stars. Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets; however, some of these poems were repetitive and some of the images seemed kind of worn to me. There are so many moments of beauty in these poems that overpower any weaknesses or repetition, though. Truly a gem of American poetry.
toebean5's review
4.0
Another beautiful volume. I have just never read anything else like her- poems that are short and simple, but manage to really make you feel that something like eating honey is a magical, timeless, existential experience. Hard to explain- but here are some favorite bits:
Yesterday someone was here with a gasping face.
Now the bed is made all new,
the machines have been rolled away. The silence
continues, deep and neutral,
as I stand there, loving you. -"University Hospital, Boston"
You must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.- "In Blackwater Woods"
Yesterday someone was here with a gasping face.
Now the bed is made all new,
the machines have been rolled away. The silence
continues, deep and neutral,
as I stand there, loving you. -"University Hospital, Boston"
You must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.- "In Blackwater Woods"
wanderingblonde's review
5.0
It won the Pulitzer Ofcourse I give it five stars, but also I feel like with poetry or at least my experience with poetry is to read everything and take what serves and leave what doesn’t, and while not all of the poems in this collection hit home for me, a few did, and a few made me think very deeply, and I think that is the point.