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Feb 24, 2021 · Who was Mary Oliver?Mary Oliver: The Gift In The Woods. As I walk along a forest path that will eventually take me up to a mountaintp and its breathtaking view, I am stopped by a large rusted metal spiral hanging from a branch covered in lichen.
Jan 25, 2019 · Mary Oliver died last week at the age of 83, at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida. She left behind more than 15 poetry and essay collections, a legacy of startling wonders and wisdom that came from...
This wonderful lyric poem is delivered from the perspective of a speaker who spent a night in the woods and felt as though her life was improved because of it. She lost herself, in a positive way, to the simple signs, sights, and experiences of the natural world. This experience is one that elevates her beyond her everyday life and her humanity.
It stayed there inside the log fence, behind the two big oak trees that in the summertime had made green roofs for Mary and Laura to play under. And that was the last of the little house.”.
- Summary
- Themes
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Detailed Analysis
- Similar Poetry
‘Sleeping in the Forest’by Mary Oliver is a beautiful poem about one speaker’s connection to nature. The poet’s speaker describes going out into the forest to spend the night in the darkness. She depicts the sounds of the various small kingdoms and creatures going about their nightly tasks. She sees sights and hears sounds that she wouldn’t normall...
Throughout ‘Sleeping in the Forest,’ Oliver engages with the themes of nature. The speaker spends the entirety of the poem out in the natural world, sleeping in the darkness of the night. Despite the darkness, she was provided with a luminous experience. She felt connected to the natural world in a way that she hadn’t before. It’s clear from the li...
‘Sleeping in the Forest’by Mary Oliver is a seventeen-line poem that is contained within one stanza of text. The lines do not follow a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. But, the majority of the lines are between six and ten syllables in length. This helps create a feeling of unity without a singular structure. Oliver also makes use of lite...
Throughout ‘Sleeping in the Forest,’ Mary Oliver makes use of several literary devices. These include, but are not limited to: 1. Alliteration: the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words. For example, “seeds” and “slept” in line four and “breathing” and “birds” in lines eleven and twelve. 2. Enjambment: occurs when the poe...
Lines 1-7
In the first lines of ‘Sleeping in the Forest,’ the speaker begins by describing what it was like to sleep in the forest. She “thought” that the earth had taken her back “tenderly,” remembering her from the times she’d been there before. (This is an example of personification. The poet gives the earth the capacity to feel.) There was a feeling of peace and oneness with the earth. The poet’s speaker describes herself as “a stone / on the riverbed.” This is a great example of a simile. She’s no...
Lines 8-17
In the next lines, she adds that the only thing that separated her from the stars was her “thoughts.” This element of her existence separates her from the rest of the natural world. But, despite their presence, they didn’t do much to restrict her ability to draw close to nature. They drifted peacefully, like “light as moths among the branches.” This simile helps the reader envisions not only where the speaker is but what the atmosphere is like. There is an almost mystical quality to this expe...
Readers who enjoyed ‘Sleeping in the Forest’ should also consider reading other Mary Oliver poems. For example: 1. ‘Wild Geese’ – expresses what one must do in order to lead a good life. One should be true to nature and the beauty found in it. 2. ‘The Journey’ – describes the emotional and mental turmoil of someone wanting to end one unhealthy life...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
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May 12, 2014 · If I was only writing this blog to myself, I would probably post one of her poems every day, until I ran out. Instead, I ordered Wild Geese for myself yesterday. How I go to the woods. Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single. friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore. unsuitable.
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Jan 31, 2019 · As a girl, Mary Oliver often wandered alone in the woods with a copy of Whitman’s poetry in her backpack, a small notebook and a pencil. Of her habit, she said: “I think it saved my life. To this day, I don’t care for the enclosure of buildings.”
