Mary Oliver

A collection of poems explores the mysterious landscape of the human heart, describing the meaning and wonder of loving another person.

Felicity

“Do you bow your head when you pray or do you look

			Take your choice, prayers fly from all directions.

			And don’t worry about what language you use,

			Even when the swans are flying north and making

			such a ruckus of noise, God is surely listening

			Rumi said, There is no proof of the soul.

			But isn’t the return of spring and how it

			springs up in our hearts a pretty good hint?”

“August of another summer, and once again

			and the lilies again are spread across the water.

			I know now what they want is to touch each other.

			during which time I kept living my life.

			Like the heron, who can only croak, who wishes he could sing,

			A little thanks from every throat would be appropriate.

			This is how it has been, and this is how it is:

			All my life I have been able to feel happiness,

			and I am watching the lilies bow to each other,

			then slide on the wind and the tug of desire,

			Soon now, I’ll turn and start for home.

			And who knows, maybe I’ll be singing.”

“but let the heart still play its true part”

"First published in the United States of America by Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2015"--Title page verso.

Poems

Erin Darlyn

I have mentioned in other reviews that Mary Oliver is my favorite poet. She writes about nature and the beauty of life in such a captivating, resonant way and I love her work. I am the sort of person who likes to keep my books in pristine condition (though I have taken to underlining and annotating of late) but Mary’s collections always break me of that habit and I find myself dog-earing pages often as I read. 

Some of my favorite poems from Felicity include: Do the Trees Speak?, Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way, I Wake Close to Morning, I Did Think - Let’s Go About This Slowly, That Little Beast, and The Gift.

A few lines that stuck out:

 “In all the works of Beethoven, you will
 not find a single lie.

 All important ideas must include the trees,
 the mountains, and the rivers.

 To understand many things you must reach out
 of your own condition.” - from Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way

'And just like that, like a simple neighbourhood event, a miracle is taking place.' 'If I have any secret stash of poems, anywhere, it might be about love, not anger,' Mary Oliver once said in an interview. Finally, in Felicity, we can immerse ourselves in Oliver's love poems. Here, great happiness abounds. Our most delicate chronicler of physical landscape, Oliver has described her work as loving the world. With Felicity she examines what it means to love another person. She opens our eyes again to the territory within our own hearts; to the wild and to the quiet. In these poems, she describes - with joy - the strangeness and wonder of human connection.

azliana aziz

Katarina

Mary Oliver is my favorite poet of all time. This book is surely warms my heart. Oh it's a blessing to read her works.

A ♡ voice ♡ from ♡ I ♡ don't ♡ know ♡ where ♡

"Mary Oliver, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, celebrates love in her new collection of poems,"--Amazon.com.

I thought this would be a good introduction to Mary Oliver and I think I was right. I'm excited to read more of her poems.

kaitlan

I adore Mary Oliver. 


The Gift

Be still, my soul, and steadfast. 
Earth and heaven both are still watching
though time is draining from the clock
and your walk, that was confident and quick,
has become slow. 

So, be slow if you must, but let
the heart still play its true part. 
Love still as once you loved, deeply
and without patience. Let God and the world
know you are grateful. 
That the gift has been given.

Jeremy Wang

i have nothing to add to my friends’ reviews. a lens on the world that is somehow both tranquil-languid and passionate. 

favorites:
Roses
I Am Pleased to Tell You
That Tall Distance
I Have Just Said

charisa

i bought this for someone else's birthday, but read it before giving it to them (shh...)

mary oliver's poetry is really like no one else's. her words are so simple and unpretentious, and she gathers up these small life moments and observations and makes them so intimately knowable. some of these poems are like 4 lines long and yet i was moved to tears. these poems, in their gentleness and quiet delight, are sometimes all you need to hear. 

—

Everything That Was Broken 

Everything that was broken has
forgotten its brokenness. I live
now in a sky-house, through every 
window the sun. Also your presence.
Our touching, our stories. Earthy
and holy both. How can this be, but
it is. Every day has something in
it whose name is Forever.

Ana Hein

Amy Thibodeau

I was given an electronic copy of this to review by the publisher and I loved it so much that I bought a hard copy. Here's my full review: https://medium.com/@amythibodeau/big-...

felicity yoon

Mary Oliver, one of my fav poet also done it so well in this book again. The book title and the poems in it so match. Top Notch!!! Among them `Not anyone who says' and `the world I live in' touch me so well. There are much more romance in her poems. As usual she also calm the reader with her words and the love of nature is so apparently illustrated.

High Fidelity

It brings peace on the whole different level.

Sophia Rabon

a tender beam of light and love during a period of turmoil

Julie Weber

God, this collection is incredible. Oliver beautifully marries the funny and the poignant in Felicity. Easy 5 star!

wildemononoke

Alithea

♥︎: the tall distance, the first day, except for the body, i don’t want to lose, i have just said.

Simar Gautam 

I don’t think I’ve ever read poetry this beautiful. It’s so lovely with its natural and spiritual elements. Mary Oliver also talked of God within this collection which I usually find annoying but now my outlook has… shifted. I need a physical copy of this collection right now!!!

Claudia

idk 3.5/5 maybe?? some were really nice (e.g. moments, for tom shaw, the gift, the wildest storm, i am pleased to tell you, to name a few); really liked her nature themed poems (the universal truths in some of these observations + metaphors, just wow!!) but some were just meh

javaria

i really liked the short sweetness of the poems. oliver talks about trees and creeks and ladybirds and the sun as if they all have lent her their words. reading the poems felt such a sheer joy, like stealing a candy out of jar only to remember it was your jar and your candy. 
 
favorite titles: 
1. Everything That Was Broken
2 Not Anyone Who Says
3. The Pond
4. Don’t Want to Lose
5. A Voice from I Don’t Know Where

And you have a person in your life whose hand you like to hold?
“Yes, I do.”

Jamie Mitchell

I've always been on the fence about poetry. I had a few select poems I loved, but I didn't really love poetry itself.

I'm no longer on the fence about poetry.

Clara Jo

A lovely yet slim volume of poetry that can be savoured in one sitting, meant to press pause on one’s stream of consciousness and inspire a sense of awe and gratitude. Reading Mary Oliver never ceases to make me feel a tenderness for the world and for life and goodness and everything in between.

Kath Lau

This was my very first Oliver book and I loved it! It also made me realize how much I missed reading poetry. Olive’s writing is stunning. This poetry collection reminds me to enjoy the little things in life.

Gustina Jaraite

One of those seldom times when I was glad the collection wasn't that long at all. Maybe I just didn't click with this recommendation. However, I just found the language too simple, too shallow and too boring. I just could not relate to the poems. They were suppose to be about love, and not that I'm not woozy in love or I've never loved at all- I did, but still, when it comes to this feeling, I expected more sorrow.

Felicity

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