How Does Mary Oliver Use Of Figurative Language In The Journey

When a journey is being taken, it can reveal one's strengths and weaknesses. Resilience and staying persistent are the strengths needed to take on a journey. However, a journey can come with challenges. These challenges can reveal weaknesses, like struggling with past trauma and loneliness. In the text, “Odyssey” by Homer, “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, and “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed, all share the same elements of strengths and weaknesses throughout the journey.

Mary Oliver is using an extended metaphor about the swamp by defining it as being a closure and a struggle plus it’s “the center of everything.” The author of the poem grabs the reader’s attention with the phrases about knocking of the bones classifying the journey as something that doesn’t relate to physical moves but to mental actions for solving lifetime problems.

A journey is a path of personal struggles that can ultimately lead to a great achievement, leaving the adventurer strongly affected by the experience. The impact of struggle on an adventurer can be clearly seen in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, and Kira Salak’s travel narrative The Cruelest Journey: 600 Miles to Timbuktu as the protagonists undertake journeys of their own, changing their outlook for future events. The Odyssey’s protagonist, Odysseus, finds himself wandering across many islands after the Battle of Troy, facing various foes for twenty long years, returning home to Ithaca, and having to save his wife and son from suitors. Similarly, Kira Salak, an explorer, writer, and protagonist of The Cruelest Journey must endure the harsh environment of West Africa as she prepares and attempts to travel down the Niger River in a kayak

The journey,not the arrival is what matters in human experience. It can be said that when one takes the first steps of a journey, that person will be forever changed as they will no longer be the way they were. As on travels, through physical or inner journeys the experiences one has, the decisions one makes and the affects of those decisions enables one to grow and develop in new and unexpected ways. These ideas are explored in Roberts frosts poem the “road not taken” and Peter Skrzynecki's poem “crossing the red sea” in both poems, journey is represented as both a physical and inner state of journeying that all people experience Journeys last forever. Decisions that lead to another can continue throughout one’s life. Proof of this is embedded in “way leads on to way”,a form of repetition shows the continuous nature of the process of journeying. “Ages and ages hence” also represents the similar idea, future tense is used show how the future is undeniably full of new and exciting journeys. Both quotes allow us to understand that the persona understands that journey is continuous/that a journey never ends. Frost shows us that there are a number of possibilities that can all be assessed once a decision is made.

Journeys are the series of events that takes place along the way from the beginning to the destination. It can come in different forms such as, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual or even a combination of these. There are different aspects in every journey which may include determination, discovery and change. Journeys usually involve difficult choices with significant implications for the individual. Mao’s Last Dancer (Li Cunxin, 2003) covers the aspects of determination and change through his extraordinary transformation from a peasant Chinese boy to an international ballet dancer. In the Road Not Taken (Robert Frost, 1920) an aspect of choice is revealed as the man uncovers two paths which will lead to different outcomes.

Most poetry authors give their poems abstract titles with deeper meanings within them, but Oliver did not choose to do that method. As soon as a reader sees the title of her poem, they will have an idea in their head of what the poem will be about. Doing this makes it more simple and easier to read, but at the same time relay an important message that Oliver wants readers to know. The poem revolves around the idea of oxygen and the life it brings to everything, and Oliver’s way of directly giving that hint to readers is in the

In Mary Oliver’s poem Spring, she uses a black bear as a symbol to her own imagination of the beginning of spring. The use of imagery by Oliver has great value in making the reader feel like they are watching the bear wake up from its hibernation. Mary’s symbolism is the way to show the beginning of spring and the beautiful scenery of the animal. Her figurative language lets the reader feel the bear doing the actions in the poem and the weather of the setting. In the starting stanza of the poem, Mary Oliver introduces the symbol of the poem.

A journey may be experienced mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually and most of the time, this journey may be a mixture of all these qualities. Journeys consist of demanding choices which can powerfully affect the individual as a whole. The reader can take the essence of the journey and sometimes the reader may incorporate some qualities into his or her lifestyle. The book, Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (2003) shows that a journey involves Li having to make important choices for himself, which in the future, impacts on his lifestyle in an physical and emotional way. The poem, The Road not Taken by Robert Frost (1916) demonstrates that sometimes in life, you may have to reach a decision of great importance and you must evaluate both

The “journey” or process of achieving something or getting somewhere can be full of problems and hardships but how you got there and what you went through is what really matters. This can be demonstrated in the epic poem,”The Odyssey” by Homer, in which the main character,Odysseus goes through an extensive journey in order to return to

A journey can be physical, within the imagination or an inner progression. Every journey enables the traveller to gain a sense of enlightenment and deeper understanding of their world. This is evident in Atwood’s Journey to the Interior, Eliot’s The Journey of the Magi, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Adamson’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which prove every journey, if truly a journey, profoundly changes one’s perspective on certain aspects of life.

The journey provides a pleasant surprise for the author and her discoveries. As her journey progressed, she uncovered positive revelations about the wonders of nature that she had not anticipated. To summarize, both writings of literature explore the opposite nature that lifes’ journey can

I personally agree with the above statement. I strongly think that the theme of journey can also be used as a metaphor for life choices or the loss of innocence and that metaphor is an extremely vital vessel of poetry. My comparison, will be targeting three main points, including how the theme of journey firstly impacts and links in with life choices, secondly the loss of innocence and youth and finally the strong, yet overlooked, aspect of enjambment.

We are all on a visual journey to our true selves, and every song and painting, every friend every enemy, another brick on the path; another thistle in the bush. Ours is a visceral journey, and some would compare life and it’s relation to the living as to the swelling of a wave and it’s lone rider. An instance of adrenaline and then we drown, we are helpless in

The concept of journeys can vary from person to person; literally a journey is a progression, either physically, mentally or spiritually. Journeys come under five main titles, inner, spiritual, imaginative, emotional and physical. Practically all texts contain one or a combination of these journeys. Les Murray, an Australian poet, has a very strong concept of journeys throughout his poems. Through the use of such techniques as figurative language and film a composer can express their individual concept of journeys.

The novel "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë consists of the continuous journey through Jane's life towards her final happiness and freedom. This is effectively supported by five significant 'physical' journeys she makes, which mirror the four emotional journeys she makes.