Mary Oliver is a Pulitzer prize winning poet whose work is largely filled with imagery of the natural world. So is it in the poem 'The Wild Geese' where she seems to be having a personal conversation with the reader. She says that one does not have to be good, or physically strain oneself due to remorse. This may mean that she asks the reader to be what they are and proud of it, instead of being someone they are not just to be sanctioned by the society. Don't let people or situations alter you, instead yield to the instincts inside you even if it warrants you to feel sad, and when you feel sad, share it. The poet offers herself to be the one you share with, in the sense that you understand the poem to make you feel better.
In the next line when the poet says 'Meanwhile the word goes on", a one-to-one conversation suddenly broadens and vanishes its boundaries to the universe. In the next few lines the imagery of nature is so vividly described, you feel it happening around you. This potentially means that the despair you so substantially feel is actually so insignificant in the universe. The universe, that is filled with lush grasslands, steep valleys, huge mountains and mighty rivers, THIS is home. THIS is where the wild geese are heading to. THIS is where you are. Universe. Home.
How you are and what you are in life doesn't constitute to anything as long as you live it, live it your way, and thus you find a place in the family of things.
When I first read this poem, my first thought was 'how intriguing this seems, what inner meaning can it have?' When I read it, probably a hundered times more, I came to the conclusion that it is a very simple poem, written in an intriguing way. It drives home the thought that one should be what they are regardless of various external factors affecting them. Something about this poem that still doesn't cease to amaze me is how the poet has used simple words to convey her message in such an effective way.
- Nithya V
In the next line when the poet says 'Meanwhile the word goes on", a one-to-one conversation suddenly broadens and vanishes its boundaries to the universe. In the next few lines the imagery of nature is so vividly described, you feel it happening around you. This potentially means that the despair you so substantially feel is actually so insignificant in the universe. The universe, that is filled with lush grasslands, steep valleys, huge mountains and mighty rivers, THIS is home. THIS is where the wild geese are heading to. THIS is where you are. Universe. Home.
How you are and what you are in life doesn't constitute to anything as long as you live it, live it your way, and thus you find a place in the family of things.
When I first read this poem, my first thought was 'how intriguing this seems, what inner meaning can it have?' When I read it, probably a hundered times more, I came to the conclusion that it is a very simple poem, written in an intriguing way. It drives home the thought that one should be what they are regardless of various external factors affecting them. Something about this poem that still doesn't cease to amaze me is how the poet has used simple words to convey her message in such an effective way.
- Nithya V
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