Celebrated and beloved American poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019) is known for her profound sense of wonder and connection to nature. She claimed beauty in the world saved her life, and her ability to capture it in poems about the natural world surely rescues us. Let yourself be awed, soothed, and stilled by her wisdom and artful way with words. Pin the goodness so others may discover this soul food too.
Mary Oliver Poems & Inspiring Quotes
Mary Oliver was born on September 10, 1935, in the semi-rural Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights, Ohio. Her home was not a happy one, and she often remarked it was one of the reasons she loathed “buildings.”
Drawn outside with so much discord indoors, she sought solace and inspiration from nature.
She began writing poetry as a child and never lost her passion for it. Although she did not complete her college degree, Oliver attended Ohio State University and Vassar College.
Mary Oliver Poetry Collections
The poetry of Mary Oliver is beloved for its simplicity, clarity, and wonder for the natural world. She describes lovely landscapes, intricacies of wildlife, and spiritual enlightenment springing from simple observances and attentiveness to nature.
A few of Mary Oliver’s notable collections include American Primitive (1983), New and Selected Poems (1992), House of Light (1990), A Thousand Mornings (2012), and Devotions (2017), a compilation of her most beloved poems.
American Primitive won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984.
You can’t miss her exploration of solitude, love, longing, awe, mortality, and spirituality throughout the work.
Mary Oliver poems invite us to look closer, to stop rushing, to grow quiet, and to notice beauty in the world all around us.
We’re encouraged to become meaning makers who discover joy within the ordinary. The simple and overlooked moments in everyday life are somehow magnified and elevated by her expressions.
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Mary Oliver is the recipient of many awards and honors including a National Book Award and Lannan Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The Poet’s Ultra-Private Life
This poet’s private life indeed remained private!
Mary Oliver lived a relatively quiet and introverted life, remaining in Provincetown on Cape Cod, Massachusetts for 40 years.
It was here she found inspiration for her poems which help us fight gloom, become less self-centered, live more fully yet lightly, and do less harm.
Her rapt attention to natural landscapes surrounding allowed her to see what modern life cleverly keeps us from seeing.
What is curious is how the poet managed to create so much beloved poetry without entering into public discourse about politics, religion, or social issues.
Somehow, even in the 21st century, this poet sheltered herself in privacy away from computers and opportunities to be “cancelled.”
Paradox & Her Poetry
Mary Oliver passed away at the age of 83 on January 17, 2019. Not long before she died, I remember listening to the interview she gave to Krista Tipett.
You could sense her unease talking about her life and work through the entire interview, and that made her willingness to vulnerably show up all the more meaningful for me.
She revealed surprising anecdotes, biases, and secrets behind some of her best known work. As I listened, I was struck by how so much of her work encourages us to live more wildly even as she herself stuck to a narrow, quiet, path of attentiveness to her immediate surroundings.
It seemed at first to me a paradox! But as I began to consider the “wildness” of looking away from capitalism, ideas of what constitutes American prosperity, and mainstream religion…
suddenly it did not feel like paradox at all. Self-exploration and self-reflection undergirds the work advising us to look to the skies, look down at the dirt, and look at the behavior of geese. How different and radical this is as we look to our screens, look at our checking account balance, and look at our dashboards.
It seems that drawing from the wild landscape nearby, she learned to practice looking away.
Personal Reflections
Her poetry has always resonated with me; its themes never straying far.
When she writes about grief, I feel a profound sense of connectedness and also depth.
Hopefulness seems to be a quality that never came naturally to Mary Oliver. I often find the feeling of hopefulness to be an unnatural stance…I require grace and help to keep looking up.
It is her earnestness to recover hope and find it freshly everywhere that charms me most.
Who cannot attest to a growing cynicism in adulthood?
Who does not long for more childlike innocence when the sight of thorns did not subtract a shred of beauty from velvety petals of the rose blooming on the vine?
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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Thank you for sharing this gifted poet/author with us.
Author
Thanks so much for reading. 🙂