Mary Oliver Page

LSC - Montgomery Library 3200 College Park Dr. Building F Conroe, TX 77384 http://mclibrary.lonestar.edu/ 936-273-7390

 

Literary Criticism on the Poetic Style of

Mary Oliver 

"There is an impressive declarative intelligence evident in Oliver's work. Within the limitations imposed by the closed lyric she has set out a persona and voice which avoids indulgent or anthropomorphic excesses. In 'Winter in the Country' she recognizes 'that nothing/Laments the narrow span' of life ended in violent death: 'The terror of the country / Is prey and hawk together, / Still flying, both exhausted, / In the blue sack of weather.' Mary Oliver is clearly a poet who matters" ( De Mott 186).  From: De Mott, Robert. "Recent Poetry: 'The Night Traveler.' Western Humanities Review  33:2, 1979. *

"[Mary Oliver] sees the true 'terror ' of the country as nature's pitiless regard for the individual, whether prey or predator; she cannot divide the world into victim and oppressor" (Oates 28). From: Oates, Joyce Carol. "Poetry: The Night Traveler." The New Republic 179:24, Dec. 9, 1978.*

"Miss Oliver's poems also have a predilection suddenly to speak from the point of view of the thing they are rendering ('The Lamb,' of course is wholy in that mode) rather than let the continuing particulars carry full weight. Endings often fall with a too neat metaphysical crescendo from more austere beginnings: stanzas tend toward equal line count or poems are set as one large block, creating an illusion of tightness that is unfortunately belied by the aforementioned formal lapses as well as a 'heaviness' of subject and tone" (Seidman 24).  From: Seidman, Hugh. "Natural Universe," The New York Times Book Review. 21 Oct. 1979.* *MLA Format for these references has not yet been proofed and corrected. Check it against MLA Handbook for Writiers.

LSC - Montgomery College Home Page Affirmative Action/EEO College Updated: For Date Click Here

This page was created at Montgomery College, Conroe, Texas