Mary Oliver's Poems

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Mary Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, like most Romantic poets, creates a boundary between nature and man and attempts to explain through examples. The author points out that, in her poems, "Seven White Butterflies" and "West Wind 2", the poet demonstrates that humans need to learn from nature a life free from struggle for materialism or dejection. The paper relates that, in "Seven White Butterflies", the butterflies represent nature as always being free from threats because nature enables them with the wisdom to extricate themselves from captivity or death.

From the Paper:

"As far as rhythm in "West Wind 2" is concerned, Oliver seems to adopt a style that is free from any formal rhythm. This is what makes "West Wind 2" even more interesting because in four stanzas she manages to first establish trust as evidence in these words "Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without/any doubt, I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me" and then delves straight to the issue of cautioning the youth. There is no formal rhyme or rhythm to the terms used yet one gets the distinct image of a boat rower's dilemma rowing downstream. And the last line, in one smooth stanza, she presents and, at the same time, advises the youth what to do. This gives the finality of the obvious and the reason why she wants to caution one in the first place. Unlike in the poem "Seven White Butterflies", she does stick to syntax but no rhythm is established."

More papers on Mary Oliver's Poems:

• Poem Review # 148017 : "To Worry Or Not To Worry: A Comparison Of Poetry By Sharon Olds And Mary Oliver"
• Analytical Essay # 30220 : "Oliver Goldsmith Elegies"
• Creative Essay # 86462 : "Finding the Poetic in the Mundane"

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