'The Wild Geese' - a critical appreciation

The most immediate thing that strikes you when you take a first glance at this poem is the sheer imagery and visual impact created by the poet’s words – playing with the beautiful elements of nature. The poet captures the splendor of the natural world around us – the everyday cycle of life which we fail to appreciate, and uses it to reflect on our innermost human sorrows and desires.

While the word ‘good’ may have varied implications, the poem starts off with a clear instruction that ‘you do not have to be good’; ‘good’ meaning the rigid norms dictated by human society. What good is it if we waste our lives away tormenting ourselves because of the passions that our hearts desire but do not find acceptance in the eyes of those around us? We do not have to punish ourselves for following our birth right – loving what we love.

The phrase ‘soft animal’ appears to be an oxymoron; while ‘soft’ refers to something gentle and calm, ‘animal’ usually creates an image of wildness and freedom. This combination evokes a sort of mixed emotion – is the animal  inside you the softest creature that would contentedly and effortlessly follow your heart’s true desires if only you let it free? And how do you connect with this ‘animal’ inside of you? Perhaps it is the easiest of all things once you get past the complexities that you yourself have created within your mind and allow yourself to look deeper and beyond.

The poet then skillfully draws out that while we're busy drowning in the sea of our sorrows, the rest of the universe still continues to exist – continues to follow its natural cycle. No despair is so great that another human being hasn't been through, though it is our selfish human tendency again to place our sorrows higher than other people’s. The ‘wild geese’ are brought forth twice in the poem to emphasize on the call of freedom and self-acceptance that the poet primarily tries to convey throughout.

In a massive world populated by millions of souls on the pursuit of happiness and contentment, it is not uncommon to be miserably lonely at many points of life. When we find ourselves at the bottom of this pit, the poem reminds us of how much strength and inspiration we can draw from the natural world around us – the beauty of which is so easily taken for granted. We need only open our senses to appreciate the countless blessings that the universe showers upon us every day and the undulating beauty that offers a feast to our limitless imagination; a sweet escape from the harshness of life.

Mary Oliver concludes the poem in a beautiful arrangement. The call of the ‘Wild Geese’ – a call for freedom and belonging, announces one’s true place in the ‘family of things’. No matter what we believe in or what our hearts seek; there is always a place for each and everyone in the family of the universe. Even if the sophisticated, human-made society does not understand us for who we are, there is a haven for anyone who seeks solace in the most rustic nature of the world - where beauty is what lies right before the eyes.