Post by kafisch38 on May 21, 2012 21:33:50 GMT -5
Mary Oliver is a contemporary poet who was born in a rural suburb of Cleveland, Ohio in 1935. She has been writing poetry since a young age, and has always found nature as an inspiration for her work. As a homosexual, she lived happily with her partner Molly Malone Cook, until her recent passing due to cancer. Oliver writes about these experiences in her work, like the mornings when she "wakes with thirst for the goodness I do not have" referring to the emptiness that sits in place of Cook. Oliver claims that nature is a remedy for these feelings of grief, and speaks of rain as a cleansing and beautiful thing, stating that "when i die, i would like to die on a day of rain."
Oliver is comfortable with the topic of death, especially when talking about the possibilities of her own. She writes "When it's over: I want to say, all my life, I was a bride married to amazement." She believes one of the most important things someone can do is lead a meaningful existence, and not die "having simply visited this world." She constantly holds nature as superior to the human race saying "a dog comes to you and lives with you in your own house, but you do not therefore own her." Oliver does not want children to be taught "that they are (they are not) better than the grass."
As a child, Oliver was abused by her father and although she doesn’t write about these experiences often, the few poems she has written of these experiences are very moving and strong-willed. She described him as “The dark song of the morning” and how “when the child’s mother smiles, you see on her cheekbones, a truth you will never confess.” Like most of her poems this one ends with a line that keeps you thinking. She writes, “In your dreams you have sullied and murdered, and dreams do not lie.”
Oliver’s poem about the Holocaust, titled “1945-1985: Poem for the Anniversary,” is recognized by several Holocaust foundations for its imagery and message. In the poem she writes universally about hate because of differences. She says “So what if I vote liberal and am Jewish, or Lutheran- or a game warden, or a bingo addict- and smoke a pipe?” In this line she displays the irrelevance of peoples differences as to their morality which was an idea lacking during the Holocaust. Oliver is a very strong believer in peace between humans and nature, and believes that one is not meant to control the other.
Winner of an American Academy of Arts & Letters Award, a Lannan Literary Award, the Poetry Society of America's Shelley Memorial Prize and Alice Fay di Castagnola Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Oliver is an extremely distinguished poet among those of her generation and across America. She is an insightful and simple read, and keeps the reader wanting more. As an accomplished writer, she continues to write poetry and take long walks on the beaches surrounding her current home, in Provincetown, Massachussetts, a place well-known for thriving poets like herself.
Word count:530
Oliver is comfortable with the topic of death, especially when talking about the possibilities of her own. She writes "When it's over: I want to say, all my life, I was a bride married to amazement." She believes one of the most important things someone can do is lead a meaningful existence, and not die "having simply visited this world." She constantly holds nature as superior to the human race saying "a dog comes to you and lives with you in your own house, but you do not therefore own her." Oliver does not want children to be taught "that they are (they are not) better than the grass."
As a child, Oliver was abused by her father and although she doesn’t write about these experiences often, the few poems she has written of these experiences are very moving and strong-willed. She described him as “The dark song of the morning” and how “when the child’s mother smiles, you see on her cheekbones, a truth you will never confess.” Like most of her poems this one ends with a line that keeps you thinking. She writes, “In your dreams you have sullied and murdered, and dreams do not lie.”
Oliver’s poem about the Holocaust, titled “1945-1985: Poem for the Anniversary,” is recognized by several Holocaust foundations for its imagery and message. In the poem she writes universally about hate because of differences. She says “So what if I vote liberal and am Jewish, or Lutheran- or a game warden, or a bingo addict- and smoke a pipe?” In this line she displays the irrelevance of peoples differences as to their morality which was an idea lacking during the Holocaust. Oliver is a very strong believer in peace between humans and nature, and believes that one is not meant to control the other.
Winner of an American Academy of Arts & Letters Award, a Lannan Literary Award, the Poetry Society of America's Shelley Memorial Prize and Alice Fay di Castagnola Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Oliver is an extremely distinguished poet among those of her generation and across America. She is an insightful and simple read, and keeps the reader wanting more. As an accomplished writer, she continues to write poetry and take long walks on the beaches surrounding her current home, in Provincetown, Massachussetts, a place well-known for thriving poets like herself.
Word count:530