“Wild Geese” is very different from many poems written. Oliver’s personal life, the free form of the poem along with the first line, “You do not have to be good,” and the imagery of nature contributes to Oliver’s intent to convince the audience that to be part of the world, a person does not need to aspire to civilization’s standards. Oliver would write this poem because she did not conform to societies wishes. According to the Poetry Foundation, Oliver has never actually received a degree despite attending The Ohio State University and Vassar College. By not completing college, she had stepped out of the normal procedure of American life of growing up, going to college, then working. She also “met her long-time partner, Molly Malone …show more content…
Immediately following the first statement, Oliver prompts that “You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.” The senseless wandering in a desert in harsh conditions is similar to the biblical story of Moses leading the Isrealites through the desert before reaching the Promised Land. By writing that the reader does not have to wander as a punishment leads into line four and five, where the speaker asserts that instead of being good, “You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” Instead of following what other’s want, the speaker proclaims that the only real necessity is to follow what your natural instincts, you animal, want. The speaker also declares inn lines six and seven that while you are talking about your despair, “the world goes on,” which proves that human traits of complaining and listening to others do not bring you closer to nature. In fact, the world continues as if you had not done anything at all. The poem then contrasts inert objects such as “the sun,” “the prairies,” and “the mountains” with objects that appear to be alive and move such as “the clear pebbles of the rain,” “the deep trees,” and “the rivers.” This compares the unmoving appearance of what society wants in the solid features of nature compared to the living and movement that is only sometimes perceived in the rain, trees, and rivers. The comparison can also be
The reader can first determine Oliver’s appreciation for nature through her vivid and crystal clear imagery of the “great horned” through the night. With its “razor-tipped toes” and “hooked-beak,” Oliver’s descriptions of the great horned owl show her respect towards the owl, and in the same vein, nature. Similarly, “the white gleam of the [snowy owl’s] feathers” effectively indicates Oliver’s respect and positive attitude towards nature and its picturesque qualities. At the same
The loss of Aboriginal ethnicity is also highlighted when the land asks “Where are the laws and legends I gave?” This dates back to the Aboriginal culture, as their spirituality is inextricably linked to the land. They believe everything on the vast landscape has meaning and purpose. As long as they look after the land, the land will thereby return the favour. However, through time, Aboriginals have begun shifting away from their original beliefs as their world collides with the Western world. Different meanings could be made out of this; such as the more Aboriginals walk away from their culture, the less inclined the land will be to look after them, thus breaking the chain of their spirituality and beliefs. Caesuras such as full stops and question marks are used are pauses for a moment of reflection. Through the reader’s understanding of the poem’s structure, they are able to not only understand how the poem is to be read but also get the feel and emotions coming across from the poet.
Oliver’s passage is largely constructed with complex sentences, which provide insight into her views of nature. Following her discussion of various types of owls which she is accustomed to seeing and hearing, Oliver connects her experiences of wondering about nature to her own life, stating: “The world where the owl is endlessly hungry and endlessly on the hunt is the world in which I live too.” In this example, Oliver’s
Both speakers ply nature as setting to express their emotion.the speaker in the poem “The Lonely Land”apply “cedar and jagged fir’s action” as setting to express the lonely environment of the poem and the negative attitude.
Finally in the third stanza there is the semantic field of nature: ‘mountain’, ‘rivers’, ‘seas’. Nature has the role of judge. It decides whether she has to be punished or not. Nature is represented as a sort of divine entity deciding of her fate because she has decided of someone else’s right to live. Again the water is represented several times with ‘rivers’ (line 17) and ‘seas’ (line 18 and 19) it gives the impression that she thinks
The wild in this piece allows for the reader to recognize nature as an escape from what is expected; an escape from ones reality. The lines “whoever you are, no matter how lonely, / the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting/ over ans over announcing your place / in the family of things”, support this implication as they tell that the world is open to all. Oliver invites the reader to listen to what the world around tells us, comparing us with wild geese, who fly alone yet in an inclusive form, honking to keep in contact with each other in flight, connected in the “family of things.” The human species moving through this life together are analogical to the flock of geese, as all of us become one species despite diving lines when in a state of nature/ wildness. There is no specification as to what is home in the poem, allowing the human world to be tied in as it leaves it open to interprets whether home exists in the wild. The reader is pulled out of a moment in our pressured world, and puts us into another moment – one vastly more real, more understanding, as we are allowed to decide where home is; if home truly exists.
The Chinese people have experienced rapid change, in government and culture in the 20th century. Although the common people seemed to have risen up against oppression from the ruling class, liberty and equality often remains out of their grasp. For centuries the dynastic cycle has dominated the culture and collective consciousness of the Chinese people. This process is characterized by unification, followed by prosperity and success, followed by corruption and instability, and finally rebellion and overthrow. This gives way to a new dynasty that was said to have received the mandate of heaven. This cycle, in some ways, ended with the fall of the Qing dynasty. This marked the end of over 2000 years of
The appreciation of nature is illustrated through imagery ‘and now the country bursts open on the sea-across a calico beach unfurling’. The use of personification in the phrase ‘and the water sways’ is symbolic for life and nature, giving that water has human qualities. In contrast, ‘silver basin’ is a representation of a material creation and blends in with natural world. The poem is dominated by light and pure images of ‘sunlight rotating’ which emphasizes the emotional concept of this journey. The use of first person ‘I see from where I’m bent one of those bright crockery days that belong to so much I remember’ shapes the diverse range of imagery and mood within the poem. The poet appears to be emotional about his past considering his thoughts are stimulated by different landscapes through physical journey.
To start, is how Oliver had believed that Kunitz was like Merlin when it came to writing poetry. It seemed to her that Kunitz was this amazing poet and it was effortless, just like magic. For example Oliver stated, “but their own good lives,/ where petals float upward,/ their colors exploding,/ and trees open their moist/ pages of thunder(8-12). These lines in the poem had been in the first stanza, when Oliver had first misunderstood Kunitz’s work ethic. When
Margaret Laurence's A Bird in the House differentiates itself from the four other novels that make up the 'Manawaka series' that has helped establish her as an icon of Canadian literature. It does not present a single story; instead, it is a compilation of eight well-crafted short stories (written between the years 1962 and 1970) that intertwine and combine into a single narrative, working as a whole without losing the essential independence of the parts.
The title itself almost says the poem, providing implicit imagery and evoking a sense of freedom and wilderness. The geese are free and natural, unlike humans who are constrained by the values and attitudes inhibited on us by society in which we conform to and accept, hindering our ability to be truly free and released like the natural world is.
This poem dramatizes the conflict between liberty and servility by giving an account of a common man’s life through the “reports” (3) of the higher ups like the “Bureau of Statistics” (1). The speaker tells the reader how this man had “in everything he did served the Greater Community” (5), and “satisfied his employers” (8). He was a regular Joe, one who “liked a drink” (13) and “bought a paper every day” (14). He had “everything necessary to the Modern Man” (20) and is said to be “a saint” (4). This man is quintessentially living the so entitled “American Dream” that many strive for. Despite this, there are some things in Auden’s poem that indicate that this man, amidst a nation of liberty, was actually servile to higher powers.
Throughout the passage, Oliver’s symbolism of death and life is used to express her thoughts upon nature. Nature can represent how life has a double-meaning where, although death may seem lovely and sweet, the chance it gets, it will rip you layer by layer. Oliver strives to illustrate an image that there is always an ugly truth behind the most prettiest things. Oliver’s style conveys the complexity of her view of nature, as she defines the thin line between life and death, and its ruthless
The poem begins with Oliver imagining death in a variety of different forms. The first is a simile comparing the arrival of death to a bear. Oliver states, “When death comes/like the hungry bear in autumn” (lines 1-2). It creates a strong image because in autumn bears are searching for food in order to put enough weight on to hibernate through the winter. This bear is desperate for food, making the bear seem scary and violent. Also this death is expected; every fall bears prepare for hibernation. Thus death is
Disgusted, the speaker sees how society has morally degraded itself in exchange for wealth and greed. The frustrated tone of the poem becomes further elevated when the speaker exclaims, "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" (4). Blinded by the daily drudgeries of life, people have become impervious to nature, despite some of the grand displays that one can behold. The speaker describes beautiful images of nature such as the sea, howling winds, and flowers that no longer create an emotional response in people. Since the world has become so out of touch with nature, mankind is no longer able to appreciate the drama that takes place between the wind and the moon. Additionally, the speaker claims that society has become so indifferent to nature that, "Little we see in Nature that is ours;" (3).