Mary Oliver

A selection of new and favorite poems by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Primitive celebrates the canine companions who have enriched her world, exploring how they have accompanied her walks, inspired her work and served as life guides.

Thirty-five Dog Songs and One Essay

Dog Songs

I can’t even think of anything to add to this one, it’s just pure heartbreak.

nikki

Dogs die so soon. I have my stories of that grief, no doubt many of you do also. It is almost a failure of will, a failure of love, to let them grow old— or so it feels. We would do anything to keep them with us, and to keep them young. The one gift we cannot give.

Oh, to love and to be loved in return by a dog.

Percy, meanwhile, leans agains me and gazes up into my face. As though I were just as wonderful as the perfect moon.

It is summer. How many summers does a little dog have?

'The popularity of [Dog Songs] feels as inevitable and welcome as a wagging tail upon homecoming' Boston Globe In Dog Songs, Mary Oliver celebrates the special bond between human and dog, as understood through her connection to the dogs who across the years accompanied her on her daily walks, warmed her home and inspired her work. The poems in Dog Songs begin in the small everyday moments familiar to all dog lovers and become, through her extraordinary vision, meditations on the world and our place in it. Dog Songs includes visits with old friends, like Oliver's most beloved dog Percy, and introduces still others in poems of love and laughter, heartbreak and grief. Throughout, the many dogs of Oliver's life merge as fellow travelers and as guides, uniquely able to open our eyes to the lessons of the moment and the joys of nature and connection.

Poems

have my stories of that grief, no doubt many of you do also. It is 

almost a failure of will, a failure of love, to let them grow old—or 

so it feels. We would do anything to keep them with us, and to 

keep them young. The one gift we cannot give.

For he was made small but brave of heart.

For when I went away he would watch for me at

For he suffered before I found him, and never

thinking how grateful I am for the moon’s

it is to love the world. Percy, meanwhile,

my face. As though I were just as wonderful

wild with the okayness of  it. Then we walk, then

Could there be a sweeter arrangement? Over and over

Riley

britt

“It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? what would this world be like without dogs?” 

i adore mary oliver. i adore dogs even more. 

this year i lost two of my dogs. i’ve been grieving and i feel like i will never stop. this book has helped me through it. it’s helped me realized that the missing weight of my pomeranian pressed against me as i lay in bed is sacred. the claw marks left on the leather ottoman from when my golden retriever stretched out and pushed against it are sacred. they are imprints of love still left on my life.

I don't think I have ever sobbed so hard as in the couple hours it took me to read this book. Right from the start, I was completely hooked; ugly crying and holding on to each of my dogs for dear life. I found pieces of myself and each of the dogs I have had over the course of my life in each of the poems. 

I think sometimes we take for granted the unconditional love we get from dogs. It's good to remind ourselves that the relationship isn't one-sided. We get more than we give from the arrangement we have with them. I particularly liked the comments made regarding "unleashed" and "leashed" dogs and what ownership of a dog equates to. There's so much beauty in a dog who is wild and free and listens only when it really matters. Or maybe my lack of skills in behavioral training make me a little biased. I 

newella

I don't think I have ever sobbed so hard as in the couple hours it took me to read this book. Right from the start, I was completely hooked; ugly crying and holding on to each of my dogs for dear life. I found pieces of myself and each of the dogs I have had over the course of my life in each of the poems. 

I think sometimes we take for granted the unconditional love we get from dogs. It's good to remind ourselves that the relationship isn't one-sided. We get more than we give from the arrangement we have with them. I particularly liked the comments made regarding "unleashed" and "leashed" dogs and what ownership of a dog equates to. There's so much beauty in a dog who is wild and free and listens only when it really matters. Or maybe my lack of skills in behavioral training make me a little biased. I 

reading this made me happy (i don't have a dog but it made me feel the joy of having one)

bought it as a gift for a friend who loves her dog so much

As a dog lover myself, I enjoyed these poems. I believe anyone who loves dogs as much as I do might enjoy reading them. 

I grew up with dogs as companions. I have loved all of them dearly, now I currently have two dogs, one is 11 years old, and the other is a year old, so boy, did this collection made me cry like I never had before that I couldn’t see through my tears. 😂 

Mary Oliver wrote about her dogs such a tender and heart-warming way. The poems were full of love, and some made me feel like my heart’s been ripped out of my chest. Also the illustrations in this were so cute, I wish it had more.

The way she ended it is perfect, “ What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?” Honestly, I never want to imagine.

As a dog lover myself, I enjoyed these poems. I believe anyone who loves dogs as much as I do might enjoy reading them. 

I grew up with dogs as companions. I have loved all of them dearly, now I currently have two dogs, one is 11 years old, and the other is a year old, so boy, did this collection made me cry like I never had before that I couldn’t see through my tears. 😂 

Mary Oliver wrote about her dogs such a tender and heart-warming way. The poems were full of love, and some made me feel like my heart’s been ripped out of my chest. Also the illustrations in this were so cute, I wish it had more.

The way she ended it is perfect, “ What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?” Honestly, I never want to imagine.



Katarina

Mary Oliver always makes me fall in love everytime and it never slows down. This book is a homage to the dogs. Somehow I suddenly remembered all of my dogs in my early childhood. I miss them dearly.

Arianna M

I have tried, over the course of many days, to write something adequate about this poem collection; I’ve failed and failed again. I gave this book as a Christmas gift to one of my best friends, because I believe she’ll understand the sensibility displayed by Oliver in these poems. They are delicate verses, very clear; Oliver engages with animals directly, with great respect, as if she and the dogs shared a language.

This book is a love letter to dogs she’s had or encountered; Maxine Kumin wrote in the Women’s Review of Books that Oliver “stands quite comfortably on the margins of things, on the line between earth and sky, the thin membrane that separates human from what we loosely call animal.” As you read the collection, you enter a space of consciousness that Oliver opens up for us, where creatures communicate freely, respectfully, and lovingly. This is a poem appearing halfway through the book:

THE SWEETNESS OF DOGS
What do you say, Percy? I am thinking
of sitting out on the sand to watch
the moon rise. It’s full tonight.
So we go

and the moon rises, so beautiful it
makes me shudder, makes me think about
time and space, makes me take
measure of myself: one iota
pondering heaven. Thus we sit, myself

thinking how grateful I am for the moon’s
perfect beauty and also, oh! how rich
it is to love the world. Percy, meanwhile,
leans against me and gazes up into
my face. As though I were just as wonderful
as the perfect moon.

Janice Hopper

Mary Oliver + poems/stories about dogs -- how could I NOT love this? The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that it's a thin little book, and some (not all!) of the poems were a little thin too.

I found this on my birthday today at Tall Tales Bookshop and read it on the way home. :) Many lovely poems that brought a catch in my throat and tears to my eyes. Dog lovers will understand.

It also has lovely, understated illustrations.

Melody Izard

Oh Mary. You loved each one of these silly dogs, didn't you? Writing into your teacher's contract that they must be allowed to come to work with you. And I bet they marched across the campus off-leash.

Dog Songs Thirty-five Dog Songs and One Essay

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