A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE “WILD GEESE” BY MARY OLIVER

The poem `Wild Geese’ by Mary Oliver is arresting from the first line when she invites you into an ongoing conversation which adds a personal touch to her thoughts. She describes the practice of adhering to social norms as unnatural behavior to the human nature yet an important part of the social fabric. When the poet says that you don’t have to be good she seems to have forethought that the reader is of a conservative background and is a perfectionist who has a habit of finding fault with herself for not matching up to the standards of the society. She seems to encourage the reader to find her place in the World.

The poet asks us not to let our sense of self-righteousness overpower our innate sense to seek joy and thereby be true to our basic nature when she asks us to –“let the soft animal of our body love what it loves”.

 Nature seems to be as important a character as the reader herself .The difference in Mary Oliver’s perception of it is that nature plays the role of a comforting and sympathetic friend rather than a character in comparison. The poet uses vivid imagery, the landscape maybe used to distract the reader from a state of despair; the figures of speech may be meant to signal to the reader a sense of distance on the part of the poet, a playfulness and release from the all-too-human confrontation.

The usage of “over and over” must mean that the poet knows her friend won’t respond immediately to the idea of opening her imagination up to this new-old world; “harsh and exciting” conveys the energy in the call, the insistence of its urging.