what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice...
...a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
...kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper into the world..."
-from Mary Oliver's "The Journey"
Look below the fold for the poem in its entirety, an accompanying literary analysis by Ms. K, and guidelines for your literary analysis papers.
“The Journey”
by Mary Oliver, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for PoetryOne day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice-
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do-
determined to save
the only life that you could save.-from Dream Work
“The Journey” by Mary Oliver is a poem about transformation. The speaker challenges us to reject a life that revolves solely around responsibility to others, and to enter into the “wild night” in order to find our own voices. To be true to our hearts in the face of the power of conformity is always a wild ride
A journey like this goes against the prevailing current; it requires a certain “stepping out of line”, a certain break with polite society. Other people, their voices “shouting their bad advice”, feel the ripples. They want us to stay and take care of them: to mend their lives.
Oliver speaks to the birth of a new, authentic self, one not conditioned by the past. In stepping out, we don’t walk away from the world, but into it. Eventually, the new voice
“...[keeps] you company
as you [stride] deeper and deeper into the world…
The reality is profoundly simple: in being true to that small voice within, we are being of service in the most profound way possible. In saving “the only life [we] could save”, we are affirming one of the deepest and most sobering truths of all: no one else can ever walk our journeys for us. Each of us must respond to the call on our own.
Written in free verse, with one example of internal rhyme ( “… you finally knew / what you had to do”), this poem’s structure is continuous, with one stanza break. Like many poets before her, including Frost in “The Road Not Taken”, Oliver uses the extended metaphor of a physical journey as a metaphor for a solitary, spiritual journey towards individual change. Other examples of figurative language include sensory images of a “tug at our ankles” and a “road full of fallen branches and stones” which reflect the obstacles that attempt to keep us from our destination, and personification in “… the wind pried / with its stiff fingers.”
This poem captures that moment when we decide that we must listen to our own voices in order to live an authentic lives. It addresses the fundamental human experience of leaving behind the old, and entering the new.
-Ms. K
Questions to address when analysing a poem:
- Who is the speaker? Is the voice of the speaker in the poem different from that of the poet?
- That is the poem about? Is there a metaphor or an extended metaphor?
- What sensory images do I find?
- When I scan the poem, are there unusual patterns or deviations in meter that are worthy of note?
- What figurative language is used?
- Is there evidence that this poem is universal? (Universality means that it "appeals to readers in a wide variety of cultures and across a wide variety of historical periods--i.e., basic emotions, situations, values, and attitudes that readers can relate to regardless of other cultural or historical differences." (Definitions found at Literary Terms and Definitions)
Your literary analysis must be typed, be 300-400 words in length, and must include a copy of the poem. See me if you have any questions!
What is the point of view of this poem?
Posted by: Barbara | October 27, 2011 at 07:12 PM