Reckless Poem
Mary Oliver
Today again I am hardly myself.
It happens over and over.
It is heaven-sent.
It flows through me
like the blue wave.
Green leaves – you may believe this or not –
have once or twice
emerged from the tips of my fingers
somewhere
deep in the woods,
in the reckless seizure of spring.
Though, of course, I also know that other song,
the sweet passion of one-ness.
Just yesterday I watched an ant crossing a path, through the
tumbled pine needles she toiled.
And I thought: she will never live another life but this one.
And I thought: if she lives her life with all her strength
is she not wonderful and wise?
And I continued this up the miraculous pyramid of everything
until I came to myself.
And still, even in these northern woods, on these hills of sand,
I have flown from the other window of myself
to become white heron, blue whale,
red fox, hedgehog.
Oh, sometimes already my body has felt like the body of a flower!
Sometimes already my heart is a red parrot, perched
among strange, dark trees, flapping and screaming.
1. Summarize this poem.
2. Identify how the author uses literary techniques to help develop the poem.
3. Give a personal comment on the poem.
1)Shes looking at the world in a whole new way. that ant crossing her path that was once just an ant to her is now a symbol of how dhe should live her life: to the fullest. this ant causes her to think about the prymid of life and if every thing in it is important and what role they play.
ReplyDelete2)the author used metaphor to develope the idea that she is part of the nature, that everything comes together as one.
3)i like this poem but at the same time its conffusing.
1) It is someone describing their feelings of Spring and how closely related to nature she feelings.
ReplyDelete2) She uses a lot of imagery and metaphors to develop the poem, using a lot of colors and descriptive adjectives to give the reader the mood and develop the poem.
3) I like this poem, it's very descriptive and calm.
1) she is finding the beauty in little things because she is looking at life in a way she did not before.
ReplyDelete2) She uses a lot of details to create a picture and uses repetition to show what she was thinking.
3)I love how i can picture what she is talking about to i can see what she is trying to show.
1) She is showing her appreciation for things she never noticed before.
ReplyDelete2)She uses imagery to describe things she realizes.
3)This poem is very relaxing, and beautiful. Very naturey.
1.) She's having a day where she's getting all philosiphical and prescribing great importance to everything, like dat ant. She imagines herself being reincarnated as many different animals.
ReplyDelete2.) Metaphores galore, and sooooooo much imagery. It's loverly.
3.) I like it quite a bit. It makes me feel like I am literally the sun.
She's describing the beauy of nature and how it inspires her, and how she feels at one with nature on this particular day.
ReplyDeleteShe uses many metaphors to better describe her emotions when near nature.
It was a superbly personal poem, and that closeness felt by the author can be felt just as well by the reader.
1) she is trying to show that she can find love in things shes never even noticed before
ReplyDelete2) she is using a lot of imagery as she describes the things she is noticing
3)i like this poem alot because her words are so powerful and i can see what she is trying to show to the readers
1. She is seeing the beauty in life and nature. at first ithought she was talking about menstration...
ReplyDelete2.She uses alot of imagery and metaphors
3. to long for my liking, but i liked the image sge was portraying