Name: A Thousand Mornings
Rating: 3.91025641025641 (78 reviews)
ISBN: 9781594204777

Mary Oliver

Presents a collection of poems that explore such themes as the wonder of nature, the power of attention, and the mysteries of the daily experience.

A Thousand Mornings

I go down to the shore in the morning and depending on the hour the waves are rolling in or moving out, and I say, oh, I am miserable, what shall- what should I do? And the sea says in its lovely voice: Excuse me, I have work to do. Whether studying the leaves of a tree or mourning her treasured dog Percy, Mary Oliver is beautifully open to the teachings contained within the smallest of moments. In A Thousand Mornings she explores, with startling clarity, humour and kindness, the mysteries of our daily experience.

roofopiela

she does it again…stunning. mary oliver holds nothing back. vulnerable. observant. unrestrained. compassionate. grounded. some favourites: “I say, oh, I am miserable, what shall— what should I do? And the sea says in its lovely voice: Excuse me, I have work to do.” “And I suggest them to you also, that your spirit grow in curiosity, that your life be richer than it is, that you bow to the earth as you feel how it actually is, that we—so clever, and ambitious, and selfish, and unrestrained—are only one design of the moving, the vivacious many.” “but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be.”

Was feeling anxious so I reached for this, knowing I’ll find relief in her voice. She never takes anything for granted, the “resurrection of the morning”, “this and every crisping day” as “One of the doors/into the temple”. I needed this prayer to small things, and as Mary Oliver says 

“(and when have I ever been disappointed?)”

“For I will consider my dog Percy” made me tear up despite not yet knowing the love of a dog, as usual she finds the love in the everyday. 

Xiang

Oh Mary Oliver. 

Was feeling anxious so I reached for this, knowing I’ll find relief in her voice. She never takes anything for granted, the “resurrection of the morning”, “this and every crisping day” as “One of the doors/into the temple”. I needed this prayer to small things, and as Mary Oliver says 

“(and when have I ever been disappointed?)”

“For I will consider my dog Percy” made me tear up despite not yet knowing the love of a dog, as usual she finds the love in the everyday. 

 A Thousand Mornings 

full poem here, to not ruin the beauty:

All night my heart makes its way 

however it can over the rough ground

of uncertainties, but only until night

meets and then is overwhelmed by 

morning, the light deepening, the 

wind easing and just waiting, as I 

too wait (and when have I ever been 

disappointed?) for redbird to sing.

armoni mayes

erika s

Katarina

I think being able to read Mary Oliver when you're young is a privilege. I found her work when I was 18, miserable and lost. I searched for words and people that could answer my question or at least ease my burden. Mary was there and after reading Wild Geese, I could not stop reading her other works. Something similar happened when I was reading A Thousand Mornings. I am twenty now and I realized she helped me to understand life. Her poems may be short, it may be simple. But I do admit sometimes even in her shortest poem, Mary is there as your beloved friend. Completely present. One thing I found amazing about her and in this specific work: the ability to see the world in a completely beautiful way and approach it softly.

honey

Dave | Storyphoria

I quick read that will invite future visits. While I didn't connect with some of the pieces, only because I'm a complete novice to the world of poetry, there were many more that really spoke to my own instinct to find peace and meaning in nature. 

My favorites from the collection are "THE POET COMPARES HUMAN NATURE
TO THE OCEAN FROM WHICH WE CAME" and "ON TRAVELING TO BEAUTIFUL PLACES". A wonderful one-two punch that speaks so wonderfully about the human experience.

There were some though provoking poems in this book. I feel like the best ones were ones that contemplated our human experience as it relates to the natural world. 

sophia n

Devin Ware

Mary Oliver is one of those writers who has felt like an old friend to me from the moment I first opened one of her books. This collection of poems feels like a box of angels. It is rainwater seeping out from your cabinets, jungle trees growing out of abandoned skyscrapers. It's just so good. Please read.

Olivera Mitić

libby g

"who can guess the impatience of stone longing to be ground down, to be part again of something livelier?"

Pat G.

** spoiler alert **
           Mostly light overall, soft and flowing. Mostly not for me, but it provides some pleasant moments.

This, to me, is a collection of contemplations on how futile and insignificant life can be, “how small we are in the universe”. Punctured by a few observations of nature and other beings living care free while we as humans are tangled in our own seemingly important matters.

A Thousand Mornings

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