Thirst, a collection of forty-three new poems from the Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Oliver, introduces two new directions in the poet's work. ...
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Dec 13, 2011
Scott
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Mary Oliver possesses artistic genius. Her poetry is not comprised of convoluted structures, impenetrable meaning, or enigmatic symbolism. That is not to say that her work is not complex. Instead of pretension, Ms. Oliver wishes to touch the reader's soul. Ms. Oliver immerses one's senses into the locale or experience of which she writes. After a winter walk with Mary, "I'll stand in the doorway/stamping my boots and slapping my hands,/my shoulders/covered with stars." She takes
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Dec 10, 2007
Erika
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I was happily surprised to find that a few of these poems were actually good. Most of Oliver tends to be long, prosey lists broken into lines wherein she names the things she's looking at in a field. I had started to suspect that she'd devised some kind of computer program to churn them out. The silver heron with its serpentine neck, the blaze of eastern sky...I sit motionless in this field for hours, long enough to notice: the spit bugs working their froth, the spiders in their glistening nets.
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Jan 05, 2009
Zinta
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Live long enough, live deep enough, and you will find, as Mary Oliver does in these 43 poems collected in "Thirst," that all grief edges joy, all joy is edged by grief. It is only in a deep and courageous immersion into life, and perhaps also that place beyond life, that one can fully experience this wonder, a kind of yin and yang, the light beside the shadow, phenomenon that is living with thirst, quenched or unquenched.
There is nothing pretentious about Oliver's poetry. More...
There is nothing pretentious about Oliver's poetry. More...
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Feb 23, 2009
Crystal
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The reviews of this book tell me that Mary Oliver writes in these pages as if she has had an encounter with the Divine. Oliver is one of my all time favorite poets. Her poem Peonies is near the top of my list. She is attune to nature in such a delicious way. This book of poems is not surprise but what is - is the spiritual nature, namely Christian nature of this book - her spirituality is not in a general no name sense. With her delicate sensiblities toward the world of nature coupled with
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Nov 26, 2007
Tim
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Oliver may be the most widely read poet in America, and I think for good reason. She seems to do what seasoned poets should do--grab the reader with the most concise words possible. Oliver does this so well, that some of her poems might even seem overly simplistic. They're not.
Oliver is a lesbian who had the same partner for about 40 years. This collection was written after her partner's death. I suppose this is why these poems seem different than her other work. She also, throug More...
Oliver is a lesbian who had the same partner for about 40 years. This collection was written after her partner's death. I suppose this is why these poems seem different than her other work. She also, throug More...
Jun 07, 2011
Kathleen
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I like Mary Oliver, and I'm not going to stop liking her just because I liked Thirst less than American Primitive and House of Light. I have read a lot in Dream Work, too, and will probably read the whole thing through this summer, so I get a sense of her again.
In Thirst, I respect the grief and the reverence for nature and nature's beauty, but the God thing feels too pointed to me. And I don't really mind when poets do their God thing--Lucia Perillo, Andrew Hudgins--it's their thing More...
In Thirst, I respect the grief and the reverence for nature and nature's beauty, but the God thing feels too pointed to me. And I don't really mind when poets do their God thing--Lucia Perillo, Andrew Hudgins--it's their thing More...
Sep 05, 2011
Dani
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Mary Oliver’s book of poems, Thirst is the first of her books I have read. I have to say that it was not what I was expecting. At first, it seemed to be a collection of praise—praise of nature, of life, of God (a very specific one), but as I read on, it became evident that all of these poems seemed to hinge on grief. I found out that the collection was written shortly after the death of her husband and then things became clearer. Suddenly, the trees, flowers, alter linens, and birds all had
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Jan 27, 2010
Skostal
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Poet Mary Oliver has been recommended to me many times, but not until a friend once again brought her work to my attention did I become engrossed with her voice. I read Thirst, one of her more recent collections, through in one sitting, and want more. Her work shows a quiet voice in tune with nature and the spiritual world around her. Some of her poems are manifestly Christian, and are truly delicate psalms, brimming with light and honesty, and without the bulk or baggage of the Bible, but som
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Sep 25, 2007
Sarah
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This is Mary Oliver's latest book of poetry. Her work has clearly taken on a new direction. Many of the poems in this collection are blatantly religious; "God" is mentioned throughout. For that reason, many of the poems felt sentimental, and were lacking much of the brilliant nature imagery that made me fall in love with her work.
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Jan 25, 2012
Heather
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I read this in snatches while sitting by my dying grandmother's side this past autumn. The idea of grief as a kind of thirst made complete sense to me. In one way, grief is a thirst for knowledge, for more time, for more details or information about the dead person that may never be satisfied. In each poem, Mary Oliver always sets the scene with exactly the right details, but here, I felt like that artistry was a mere coincidence, and not the central aim; a by-product. She wrote this book after
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Aug 12, 2011
Susan
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What a lovely collection of poems. I cannot for the life of me understand what took me so long to discover Mary Oliver. Other than the fact that I've never been a huge fan of poetry. I've been impatient with it. I've been irritated by it. I tell the poet, "Get on with it". "Get to the point and stop dancing around what you want to say". Ugh. Then I was given my first volume and found that I got it, liked it, didn't have to reinterpret it. Now I'm hooked. Bought my se
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Nov 17, 2011
Jamie
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Grief, God, and the desire to keep moving forward in spite of the first and in search and celebration of the second are what characterize the poems in this volume. It is a departure from her previous poetry mostly because of the directly religious themes explored in multiple pieces, but one of my "favorite favorites" is in this book ("When I Am Among the Trees") and a few others as well: "A Pretty Song," "Messenger," "Logan International," and f
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Aug 13, 2009
Brooke
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This volume has quite a few prayer/hymn-like poems. I did not expect her to be so overtly religious. Is it something that surfaced with grief over the loss of her life partner? Not being familiar with her entire body of work, I honestly don't know if she was already frequently addressing God and mentioning Eucharist. Of course, she doesn't do this in a conventional way, but weaves religion and nature together in a way that is playful and true to herself.
Anyway, so I've got a few more More...
Anyway, so I've got a few more More...
Feb 26, 2009
Cheryl
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Sep 28, 2007
Elizabeth
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What I learned from this book is that realizing the resposibility one has for one's soul is the apex of beauty. Mary Oliver as a woman, a poet, a lover, a friend, a nature buff, a metaphysician, a human creature in the 21st century, all of these qualities of herself come together in this intensely personal collection of poems. Thirst is the first book of hers to be published since her life-partner, Molly Malone, past away.
Once I got up the guts to read the book, (how does one read More...
Once I got up the guts to read the book, (how does one read More...
Jul 12, 2009
Sandra
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I am not a poetry enthusiast but I love, love, love Mary Oliver's deep-lived full immersion into life. She doesn't skim the top of the waves, she dives forcefully into them, lets the tide wrench and toss her body and soul, bursts through the top, gulping at the good air, experiencing every minute of the ride. . . . . but she also could write a poem watching a grain of sand for hours . . . maybe she has. Thanks, Father Michael for bringing her to my attention through a lenten study. Powerful stuf
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Nov 23, 2008
I particularly like this:
Cormorants
All afternoon the sea was a muddle of birds
black and spiky,
long-necked, slippery.
Down they went
into the waters for the poor
blunt-headed silver
they live on. for a little while.
God, how did it ever come to you to
invent Time?
I dream at night
of the birds, of the beautiful, dark seas
they push through.
Mary Oliver
Cormorants
All afternoon the sea was a muddle of birds
black and spiky,
long-necked, slippery.
Down they went
into the waters for the poor
blunt-headed silver
they live on. for a little while.
God, how did it ever come to you to
invent Time?
I dream at night
of the birds, of the beautiful, dark seas
they push through.
Mary Oliver
Nov 29, 2008
Robert
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Containing much praise, stillness and grief, these are poems written after the death of her partner . I feel that while she may have always had a certain faith in God, the death of Molly has given her reason to revisit that faith and draw it in for a closer look: "I hum the hymns / I used to sing / in church. / They could not tame me / so they would not keep me" but now she accepts them and their beauty allowing herself to be kept. These are really wonderful love poems.
Sep 10, 2009
Pete
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This collection of poems is great to take on trips and pick up with you have 10 minutes. Just sink into the words. It allows you to think of your life, mediate on Oliver's words and bring the two together. It's beautiful all the way through. And a great book to quote if you want to sound smart.
Jun 06, 2011
Alex
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I read these poems over and over again. The collection is a meditation on grief, among other things, and articulates emotions that I would have imagined were otherwise impossible to describe with words. And don't miss Mary Oliver's delightful poems about Percy, her dog, along the way.
Mar 14, 2009
Jane
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What I'm most appreciating right now is how Mary Oliver writes about animals -- this would have been an interesting book for my Animals in Religion course at HDS. Not a perfect book by any means. Some of the poems were more prayer than poem. However, well worth the reading for the outstanding moments and for a new poem to add to my favorites -- "Making the House Ready for the Lord."
Jul 20, 2010
JoyfulK
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This book was published the year after the death of Oliver's lifelong partner. The poems reflect her grief, and they also show how her sense of the natural world helps her respond to it and work through it. Beautiful thoughts, beautifully expressed, and well worth reading.
Feb 28, 2010
Lee
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The speaker's drive to face every loss, in order to face every facet of life, can allow for both a rose or a fist to become something inviting.
On a personal note, I would at least recommend "When The Roses Speak, I Pay Attention" to anyone who would be interested.
On a personal note, I would at least recommend "When The Roses Speak, I Pay Attention" to anyone who would be interested.
Feb 12, 2009
Gloria
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I enjoy reading Mary Oliver and a few of the poems in this book really speak to me. Some seem deceptively simple descriptions of things around her but each carefully chosen word leads to an overall impact that is definitely not simple.
Sep 28, 2010
Mara
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I love Mary Oliver's poetry! One of my favorite poems from the collectionwas "The Vast Ocean":
"On the hard days
I ask myself
if I ever will.
Also there are times
my body whispers to me
that I have."
"On the hard days
I ask myself
if I ever will.
Also there are times
my body whispers to me
that I have."
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Sep 18, 2009
Cindy
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What can I say? Mary Oliver is my favorite poet ever. She is incredible. I am amazed by her control and her ability to express things with such crystal clarity. This collection was, if anything, even more lovely than her previous work.
Dec 28, 2008
Timm
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"..don't worry, sooner or later I'll be home. Red-cheeked from the roused wind, I'll stand in the doorway stamping my boots and slapping my hands, my shoulders covered with stars."
Oct 31, 2007
Rebecca (N)
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I find this latest book by Mary Oliver disappointing and uneven. She is writing more religious poems which is okay with me if the writing is good but I need more substance. As I was reading the poem, Cormorants, I thought it would be perfect if she left out the third stanza which makes a direct reference to God but I may be biased because I am not religious. However, I adore that dear man,Gerald Manley Hopkins and he was always going on about god so the problem is with Mary's writing.
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Nov 11, 2009
Angie
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I joined a new book club last month and at our next meeting we'll be discussing poetry. Otherwise, I never would have picked this book up. However, I really enjoyed it. All of the poems are earthy and spiritual and quite lovely.
