Synopses & Reviews
Strikingly redesigned to accompany the publication of
New and Selected Poems, Volume Two.
When New and Selected Poems, Volume One was originally published in 1992, Mary Oliver was awarded the National Book Award. In the fourteen years since its initial appearance it has become one of the best-selling volumes of poetry in the country. This collection features thirty poems published only in this volume as well as selections from the poet's first eight books.
Mary Oliver's perceptive, brilliantly crafted poems about the natural landscape and the fundamental questions of life and death have won high praise from critics and readers alike. "Do you love this world?" she interrupts a poem about peonies to ask the reader. "Do you cherish your humble and silky life?" She makes us see the extraordinary in our everyday lives, how something as common as light can be "an invitation/to happiness,/and that happiness,/when it's done right,/is a kind of holiness,/palpable and redemptive." She illuminates how a near miss with an alligator can be the catalyst for seeing the world "as if for the second time/the way it really is." Oliver's passionate demonstrations of delight are powerful reminders of the bond between every individual, all living things, and the natural world.
Review
"One of the astonishing aspects of Oliver's work is the consistency of tone over this long period....These poems sustain us rather than divert us. Although few poets have fewer human beings in their poems than Mary Oliver, it is ironic that few poets also go so far to help us forward." Stephen Dobyns, New York Times Book Review
Review
"I have always thought of poems as my companions and like companions, they accompany you wherever the journey (or the afternoon) might lead....My most recent companion has been Mary Oliver's The Leaf and the Cloud....It's a brilliant meditation, a walk through the natural world with one of our preeminent contemporary poets." Rita Dove, Washington Post
Review
"Mary Oliver's poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing. Her special gift is to connect us with our sources in the natural world, its beauties and terrors and mysteries and consolations." Stanley Kunitz
Review
"One would have to reach back perhaps to [John] Clare or [Christopher] Smart to safely cite a parallel to Oliver's lyricism or radical purification and her unappeasable mania for signs and wonders." David Barber, Poetry
Review
"Perhaps I'm the last person on earth to discover the marvelous poems of Mary Oliver, but just in case there is one other person out there who hasn't, here's a glowing review of these two collections. Oliver has a deep understanding of nature, and deftly avoids the 'plant-eaters good, meat-eaters bad' anthropomorphism of lesser voices....[G]et these two collections and let your soul drink deeply." Doug Brown, Powells.com
Synopsis
Mary Oliver was awarded the National Book Award for
New and Selected Poems, Volume One. Since its initial appearance it has become one of the best-selling volumes of poetry in the country. This collection features thirty poems published only in this volume as well as selections from the poet's first eight books.
Mary Oliver's perceptive, brilliantly crafted poems about the natural landscape and the fundamental questions of life and death have won high praise from critics and readers alike. Do you love this world? she interrupts a poem about peonies to ask the reader. Do you cherish your humble and silky life? She makes us see the extraordinary in our everyday lives, how something as common as light can be an invitation/to happiness, /and that happiness, /when it's done right, /is a kind of holiness, /palpable and redemptive. She illuminates how a near miss with an alligator can be the catalyst for seeing the world as if for the second time/the way it really is. Oliver's passionate demonstrations of delight are powerful reminders of the bond between every individual, all living things, and the natural world.
Synopsis
When
New and Selected Poems, Volume One was originally published in 1992, Mary Oliver was awarded the National Book Award. In the fourteen years since its initial appearance it has become one of the best-selling volumes of poetry in the country. This collection features thirty poems published only in this volume as well as selections from the poet's first eight books.
Mary Oliver's perceptive, brilliantly crafted poems about the natural landscape and the fundamental questions of life and death have won high praise from critics and readers alike. "Do you love this world?" she interrupts a poem about peonies to ask the reader. "Do you cherish your humble and silky life?" She makes us see the extraordinary in our everyday lives, how something as common as light can be "an invitation/to happiness,/and that happiness,/when it's done right,/is a kind of holiness,/palpable and redemptive." She illuminates how a near miss with an alligator can be the catalyst for seeing the world "as if for the second time/the way it really is." Oliver's passionate demonstrations of delight are powerful reminders of the bond between every individual, all living things, and the natural world.
Video
About the Author
Mary Oliver, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, is one of the most celebrated and best-selling poets in America. Her books include Owls and Other Fantasies, House of Light, Dream Work, White Pine, West Wind, The Leaf and the Cloud, and What Do We Know, as well as four books of prose, including Blue Pastures, Rules for the Dance, and Winter Hours. She lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.