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In her poem "Brother," celebrated poet Mary Oliver eloquently expresses the ever-lasting presence of a brother, even in their absence. Oliver's words encapsulate the delicate balance between grief and gratitude. An excerpt from the poem reads: "There is nothing to do but to praise.
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- Structure & Form
- Line-By-Line Analysis & Explanation
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- Similar Poems About Death
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“When Death Comes” begins with a description of what “death” is to Oliver. She uses vivid images that she draws from nature to form a semblance of death. There is an uncertainty that follows her thoughts throughout the poem, but she chooses to look forward to life’s rewarding journey as an integral part of her existence. She also looks at life as a...
“When Death Comes” is written in free-verse and there is no set rhyme scheme employed by Oliver. The diction remains simple and approachable, which gives this poem a stream-of-consciousness kind of feeling. Her thoughts seem to just go with the flow. The speaker of the poem is Oliver herself. The reader finds her meditating on life and death. Apart...
Lines 1-4
Mary Oliver’s poem “When Death Comes” begins with a varied description of how “death” may appear and a meditation on the nature of death. This kind of pondering on the coming of death proves to be bold on the poet’s part. Oliver portrays the inevitability of death that at the same time is an unexpected calamity for humankind. She describes “death” using various images. It is compared to “the hungry bear in autumn.” This suggests an association with nature. Bears are portrayed as symbols of fe...
Lines 5-10
Death also has physical manifestations like the fatal “measle-pox” and the huge “iceberg” between the scanty human shoulders. These images suggest a sense of finality. It is certain that death leaves absolutely no scope for an escape. How doomed death could be, the speaker approaches the subject with “curiosity.” Death becomes a destination or location that one is bound to eternally. Oliver compares it to a “cottage of darkness” that she wants to explore with a positive attitude. It appears a...
Lines 11-14
In these lines, Oliver mediates upon life instead of death. She does so in continuation to the preceding series of thoughts. Death is inevitable for all, therefore, everything that she tries to understand becomes part of a universal “brotherhood” and “sisterhood,” or an all-inclusive community. Since nothing can escape death’s dark cottage, everyone and everything becomes one. Existence continues beyond death so “time” becomes a mere “idea” or a mental construct. This type of “eternity” broug...
Mary Oliver was born and raised in Maple Hills Heights in Cleveland, Ohio. She often took relief from her day-to-day life by taking a walk in the woods and forests. Oliver built huts with sticks and grass, and in these huts, she wrote poems. She would also contemplate while taking a walk near the ocean. These experiences of her life are portrayed t...
“After Death” by Christina Rossetti— This poem is about a dead speaker witnessing the unemotional actions of her loved one.“Death the Leveller” by James Shirley— In this poem, Shirley meditates upon the nature of death.“Song of Myself, 52” by Walt Whitman— This poem is about how the poet wants to be remembered after his death.“What is Life?” by John Clare— This poem explores a number of transience feelings and emotions and how they set traps for human beings.Check Out Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver(2017) — Featuring 200+ Mary Oliver poems, this timeless collection offers passionate, perceptive, and treasured observations of the natural wo...Check Out At Blackwater Pond: Mary Oliver reads Mary Oliver(2005) — In this beautifully produced audiobook, Oliver has recorded forty of her most-beloved poems including “When Death Comes.”- Male
- Poetry Analyst
- When death comes. (…) when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse. In the first stanza, Oliver wastes no time in getting right to the point.
- to buy me, and snaps the purse shut; (…) like the measle-pox. The second stanza continues the thoughts of the first. Death snaps his purse shut definitively; there is no time for second thoughts or doubts.
- when death comes. like an iceberg between the shoulder blades, After giving her reader all of the ways in which death comes, Oliver flips the situation in order to detail how she will greet death.
- (…) what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness? Again, Oliver’s diction in this stanza is worth mentioning. A cottage has pleasant connotations attached to it, and it conjures images of warmth, stability, and a feeling of coziness; it is a sharp juxtaposition to the way that death is normally conveyed: cold, dark, and unfamiliar.
Apr 3, 2007 · As Mary walked away from the tomb, her heart was heavy, her body bent with grief. Her son was dead and she couldn't make sense of it all. "It's over," she says to herself, "he's gone, my boy is dead and I don't understand why.
- “When Death Comes” The speaker surmises what will happen “When Death Comes.” While the poem reflects on the moment of death, the end of the piece is about how to live.
- “After Her Death” This poem begins, “I am trying to find the lesson. for tomorrow. Matthew something. Which lectionary? I have not. forgotten the Way, but, a little,
- “Heavy” The speaker in this poem writes about how her laughter “was nowhere to be found” after the death of a loved one. A friend named Daniel advised,
- “In Blackwater Woods” “In Blackwater Woods,” concludes with the following lines: “To live in this world. you must be able. to do three things: to love what is mortal;
Oliver, Mary. “ When Death Comes .” 1991. Virginia Quarterly Review. Summary. The speaker begins this lyric poem discussing how they will eventually be greeted by death. They speculate that death might come as a “hungry bear” (Line 2), from illness, or similar to “an iceberg” (Line 8).
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‘Envy’ is a poem by Mary Lamb, who is best-remembered for her Tales from Shakespeare which she co-authored with her brother, Charles. But she was also a fine poet, who, in ‘Envy’, presents to us an important truth about the nature of envy and the futility of believing the grass always greener on the other side.
