Mary Oliver doesn't just write about nature, she writes about our Oneness with nature. She comes across her insights, often, in a state of Bliss. To read her is a spiritual experience in itself.

In this collection of her selected poems, these are her favorites, not necessarily my favorites. I have loved her smaller, more intimate collections that all seemed to harmonize together. For that reason, on a personal level this collection is really a 4 star for me but I am giving her 5 stars because poetry is always subjective and there are many, many outstanding poems here.

It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak. ( )

Uff da. I should just own all of Oliver's smaller books... this is heavy as being so many pages and so encompassing. But thanks to a generous library I'm simply renewing it over & over and I will finish soon!

It's very interesting in that it works backwards in time. The first poems are the very most accessible, as she's honed her craft and focused on her theme. Even those readers who are just barely ready for more than Shel Silverstein can enjoy these. Later in the book, as we approach her at a younger age, she's more metaphorical, more experimental, and, frankly, more interesting to me.

Newbies not interested in this whole big book might do well to start with [b:Dog Songs|17707772|Dog Songs|Mary Oliver|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1367269165l/17707772._SX50_.jpg|24757302]. The charm of the subject of dogs & of the poems, and the mutual devotion (yes) between Oliver and her canine companions touches me, despite that I've never had a desire to own a dog.
---
*The Storm:*
Now through the white orchard my little dog
romps, breaking the new snow
with wild feet.
Running here, running there, excited
hardly able to stop, he leaps, he spins
until the white snow is written upon
in large exuberant letters
a long sentence, expressing
the pleasures of the body in this world.

Oh, I could not have said it better
myself.
---
From *Sometimes*

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
---
From *From the Book of Time"

"Have I admired sufficiently the little hurricane
of the hummingbird?"
---
*White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field* is too long & too unified to present here, but know that it makes death a beautiful thing. Not to be chosen, no, but not to fear either.
---
Now here's the first verse of a poem the title of which is a spoiler. Please, Ms Oliver, could you not have let us try to "pay attention" and figure out what you were referencing?

Across the wide waters
something comes
floating--a slim
and delicate

ship filled
with white flowers....

The Swan
---
(note again that GR won't hold spacing, and most poetry is shaped by indented lines, so bear in mind that my samples are not quite accurate)

Imagine... I have heard the name Tecumseh before but never knew who he was... now, because of a poem, I'm going to go learn some history.

I'm also going to look for a location called Truro. Apparently it was wild enough, a few decades ago, that people who said they saw a bear were almost believed. Now, it must be in the East somewhere, because in the West bears are relatively common 'pests.'

And don't think the poems deteriorate in quality as we get further in the book, to when Oliver was younger and less experienced. I very much appreciated *Farm Country* which concisely reminds us where fresh home-made chicken soup comes from.
---
Ok done. That took me seven weeks to read, but really I would have enjoyed it more if I'd taken a few years. Glorious. ( )

Pleasant poems about nature

I have come to believe that 2023 will go down in my memory as The Year I Appreciated Poetry. [a:Mary Oliver|23988|Mary Oliver|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1634180145p2/23988.jpg]'s collection is the thing that cemented this designation. I am so lucky to have tumbled onto it. The editors made an interesting choice for a collection that spans the author's entire career by ordering it with the most recent poems first and working backward to her earliest. This was a wise choice because her later work is imbued with a subtlety and simplicity that some of her earlier work does not quite possess. Even before finishing this volume, I purchased [b:Blue Horses|20821239|Blue Horses|Mary Oliver|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398032287l/20821239._SY75_.jpg|40167110]. I look forward to settling in with it over the holidays. ( )

I will never get tired of reading her poetry. ( )