White Pine: Poems and Prose Poems
by Mary Oliver
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mary OliverEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-11-19
ISBN: 0156001209
Number of pages: 72
Publisher: Mariner Books
Book Reviews of White Pine: Poems and Prose Poems
Book Review: Celebrating Great Poetry
Summary: 5 Stars
I do not like modern poetry as I find most of it to be either pathetic whining that the world will not devote itself to making the writer happy or meaningless babble where the writer thinks themselves clever for being undecipherable. When I came across Mary Oliver's White Pine, I picked it up with some reluctance. I put it down with complete satisfaction.
Erudite, yet approachable. Deep, but not obtuse. Pointed observations are made, but without preachy self-centeredness. Modern poets can learn a lot from Mary Oliver.
Her descriptions and mastery of language are nothing short of pure magic, but I want to do more than reference Oliver's power of observation and description. Treating the reader with respect (and how rare that is in today's poetry), she lets us walk with her through the wooded hills, lush meadows, and seashores of her native Massachusetts, pointing out the common in new ways, making it all wondrous as if being seen for the first time. She has a philosophy of life that she shares gently, without feeling a need to beat it into the reader with all the subtlety of a crowbar.
I count myself fortunate to encounter Mary Oliver's work and I look forward to reading more of it. White Pine was a great place to start and it would be a great place for you to start too.
Summary of White Pine: Poems and Prose Poems
In her first collection since winning the National Book Award in 1993, Mary Oliver writes of the silky bonds between every person and the natural world, of the delight of writing, of the value of silence. ?[Her] poems are...as genuine, moving and implausible as the first caressing breeze of spring? (New York Times).
Wherein the poet continues her literary program with much the same sort of excellent poems about nature, the connection between the natural and the physical, and the tug-of-war between the familiar and the mysterious. I Found A Dead Fox, seemingly influenced by William Carlos Williams, gives one a good sense of the imagery in this fine collection. Oliver writes: "I found a dead fox / beside the gravel road,/ curled up inside the big/ iron wheel/ of an old tractor." Toads, mockingbirds, and afternoons of chopping wood fill these pages, as do beautiful, provocative images. Highly recommended.
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