When I think of Wendell Berry, I think of the Dalai Lama, Henry David Thoreau, and Gary Snyder, all extraordinary human beings whose lives I admire and ideas I cherish, particularly when it comes to our collective place in the larger ecosytem that is our world. “Hero” seems too ordinary a word, “saint,” perhaps too [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘Mary Oliver’
May 15, 2009
Three Poets, One Moon, and the Ancient Rites of Spring
In a recent post about Mary Oliver’s new book, Evidence, I quoted her poem, “Li Po and the Moon.” In one way, it was an unusual subject for her; in another, it was just a different approach to one of her dominant themes, nature.
So, imagine my surprise when I picked up the much anticipated (at [...]
April 30, 2009
Mary Oliver: Evidence
Once again, Mary Oliver fans may take heart: a new volume of her poetry, Evidence, has just been published and it is, as always, quite good.
Though not to everyone’s taste, Oliver has however managed to become one of the two most popular American poets of the last 20 years, among both the generally non-poetry reading [...]
February 3, 2009
Poetry: New and Recommended, Part II
Here are eleven (our favorite number again) more new and noteworthy poetry titles (plus one audio, for an even dozen) featured in our International Poetry and Literature collections. This is a companion list to last year’s recommended poetry post.
Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World
Red Rover by Susan Stewart
Warhorses by Yusef Komunyakaa
One Secret Thing [...]
December 23, 2008
At Blackwater Pond: Mary Oliver Reads Mary Oliver
It is no small irony that, for exactly the reason that Mary Oliver is loved by legions of fans, she is also reviled by many critics: a simple, clear spoken language and a set of themes, predominately nature-based, that she returns to again and again.
Next month, the 3 Poems By Discussion Group will be considering [...]
May 7, 2008
Mary Oliver’s Red Bird
Even at her most agnostic, her most atheistic, Mary Oliver was always a spiritual, even a religious, writer. Her embracing of nature is all-encompassing, recalling the preoccupation of no less a poetic figure than William Wordsworth. In recent years, as seen in her last few books, she has evinced a new-found faith beyond the more [...]
