ENGLISH 3/4 - MARY OLIVER QUOTES

overview sentence: wild geese

free verse poem capturing nature’s beauty, celebrates the lives of wild geese, who thrive in freedom and belonging

“you do not… (wild geese)

“you do not have to be good…walking on your knees…repenting” - wild geese

“soft… (wild geese)

“soft animal of your body” - wild geese

“sun… (wild geese)

“sun…pebbles…prairies…landscapes…” - wild geese

“whoever you are… (wild geese)

“whoever you are, no matter how lonely / the world offers itself to your imagination” - wild geese

“family… (wild geese)

“family of things” - wild geese

overview sentence: august

free verse poem exploring sensory pleasure, casting aside human anxieties and succumbing to primitive desires

“swollen” (august)

“swollen” (blackberries) - august

“my body… (august)

“my body accepts what it is” - august

“in the dark… (august)

“in the dark creeks that run by” - august

“thick… (august)

“thick paw of my life” - august

“happy… (august)

“happy tongue” - august

overview sentence: dogfish

meditative and confessional free verse poem depicting the speaker observing a dogfish before pivoting into deep existential reflection

“i… (dogfish)

“i wanted…” - dogfish

“tore open… (dogfish)

“tore open the soft basins of water” - dogfish

“I want to listen… (dogfish)

“I want to listen / to the enormous waterfalls of the sun” - dogfish

“look!… (dogfish)

“look! look! look!” - dogfish

overview sentence: robert schumann

poem reflecting the life of composer and musician robert schumann

“girl… (RS)

“girl named clara” - robert schumann

“run[ning]… (RS)

“run[ning] up the staircase, humming” - robert schumann

“trudging… (RS)

“trudging…through madness toward death” - robert schumann

“his music… (RS)

“his music / explodes out of itself” - robert schumann

overview sentence: university hospital, boston

speaker reflects on both the internal and external spaces of a hospital

“lush… (UH boston)

“lush and thriving” - university hospital boston

“parched… (UH boston)

“parched and broken” - university hospital boston

“small… (UH boston)

“small and stuffy chambers” - university hospital boston

“light of… (UH boston)

“light of a summer day” - university hospital boston

“sometimes green… (UH boston)

“sometimes green and sometimes gray” - university hospital boston

“i stand… (UH boston)

“i stand there, loving you” - university hospital boston

“red… AND “original… (UH boston)

“red building” AND “original hospital” - university hospital boston

overview sentence: tecumseh

lyrical and historical poem reflecting on america’s relationship with native americans, and the costs of colonisation and expansion

“sickness… (tecumseh)

“sickness / worse than the risk of death” - tecumseh

“would you… (tecumseh)

“would you believe it?” - tecumseh

“paint my… (tecumseh)

“paint my body red” - tecumseh

“this much… (tecumseh)

“this much i’m sure of” - tecumseh

“so… (tecumseh)

“so angry” - tecumseh

“where are… (tecumseh)

“where are the shawnee now?” - tecumseh

overview sentence: poem for the anniversary

poem depicting an encounter between a dog and a fawn as remembrance of the holocaust

“my dog and… THEN (anniversary)

“my dog and the fawn / did a little dance” THEN “the fawn clambered away” - poem for the anniversary

“the dead rose… (anniversary)

“the dead rose from the earth” - poem for the anniversary

“the dead are… (anniversary)

“the dead are piled in front of us” - poem for the anniversary

“the starved /… (anniversary)

“the starved / stare” - poem for the anniversary

“while the rest… (anniversary)

“while the rest of the world / did nothing” - poem for the anniversary

overview sentence: in blackwater woods

poem reflecting on death, survival and impermanence, ultimately leading to self-discovery and acceptance

“trees / are… (blackwater)

“trees / are turning / their own bodies / into pillars / of light - in blackwater woods

“p… and “t… (blackwater)

“pillars” and “tapers” - in blackwater woods

“fragrance of… (blackwater)

“fragrance of cinnamon…bursting and floating away…the blue shoulders” - in blackwater woods

“ever… (blackwater)

“ever…learned…leads” - in blackwater woods

“black river… (blackwater)

“black river of loss” - in blackwater woods

“to love what… (blackwater)

“to love what is mortal / to hold it … / … to let it go” - in blackwater woods

“every year / … (blackwater)

“every year / everything / i have ever learned” - in blackwater woods