Thirst: Poems

I've been wanting to read Mary Oliver's poems for quite a few years and finally took the plunge. I had very high expectations for this poetry book and was not disappointed. I also love the cover of this book as it speaks of infinite possibilities and worlds yet undiscovered. What I loved most about this book is how it will make you think of the world with more appreciation. Reading this book is truly a spiritual experience. When reading I could instantly relate to her poems, especially "Messenger" as she talks about hummingbirds and I'd just spent a week at my mother's house watching her hummingbirds drink out of a feeder. It made me realize how true her statement was. As she says: "My work is loving the world." Her second poem was about snow and I just survived the massive snow storm in the Seattle area. She is a very accessible poet and I could more fully understand her appreciation of nature and beauty after my week dealing with the elements. I felt I read this book at the right time as I could relate to her sense of wonder. This is a book I'd love to give to anyone who loves poetry and even to those who don't. The vivid images and the invitation to a deeper relationship with God is truly beautiful. Two poems made me laugh but two poems also brought me close to tears with their magnificence. I like how she ends some of her poems with a sense of mystery. These poems will bless you with their beauty. Mary Oliver's soul is truly extraordinary and exquisite. After reading this book I am filled with gratitude and love. Reading these poems will leave you with a warm glow in your heart. ~The Rebecca Review

This is another collection of Oliver's evocative and accessible poetry. Her poems are always easy to read but contain deep thoughts. Don't rush through the collection. Take your time reading and reflecting, reading and reflecting. I especially appreciated her Bible-based poetry. They are little celebrations of her faith whether the subject is beauty in God's creation or the struggles we all go through.

My very favorite book of poetry!

This is a small, but convincing volume of poetry by an author who clearly knows the tools of her quite trade well. The pieces included are mostly celebratory in nature, which I appreciate, thinking along with the poet that the world is a mostly beautiful place about which endless happy songs should be sung. We have had enough laments for a while, perhaps. And there are happy songs here concerning snowfalls in which the speaker comes home "red-cheeked from the roused wind," trees that speak through their leaves, and luna moths. A dog appreciates a sunset, we look into the "nameless stars" that swim in a snake's eye, and the ghost of Walt Whitman seems to inhabit lines such as: "when I speak to the fox,/ the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know/ that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,/ as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in." Oliver is speaking to God, however, whereas Whitman was speaking to humanity, or the great natural world as an indivisible whole. The lament inevitably comes, however (about halfway through the collection). And the later poems in Thirst deal almost exclusively with the speaker's attempts to reconcile herself with Christiandom's version of god. They lose their footing and slip into a kind of unpleasant (to me, at least) sermonizing. By the end of the book, there are few concrete images left and purely dogmatic statements have crept into the material, although it should be kept in mind that these pieces probably were specfically targeted to Christian and/or Catholic markets. Overall, it is not worth the price but well worth your time, if that makes any sense.

In the very first line of the very first poem of Mary Oliver's new collection of poetry, entitled Thirst, she says "My work is loving the world" (Messenger). In the very last poem of this slim volume, she says "Love for the earth and love for you are having such a long conversation in my heart" (Thirst). These poems bookend a new affirmation of faith for Oliver: For the first time in her life, at the age of 71, she is writing from an apparent Christian framework, loving the world of marshes, ponds, beaches, bears and dogs and the Creator of all these things she has so long loved. These are poems that celebrate the world of Creation, that praise the Creator, that walk through grief (Oliver lost her long time partner and agent, Molly Malone Cook, in 1995) into resolute hope, that point beyond nature and grief to the Giver of all. Her love of nature might be seen in the way she addresses it as addressing a good friend, as in "When I Am Among the Trees," where she says Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, "Stay awhile." The light flows from their branches. And they call again, "It's simple," they say, "and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine." There are poems about ribbon snakes, roses, a great moth, otters, Percy (her dog), and that great conversation ("And still I believe you will/ come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox,/ the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea goose, know/ that really I am speaking to you" (Making the House Ready for the Lord). And then there is grief. I loved this one (Percy (Four)), so simple, so true, about doing what need be done as we wait for grief to pass and life to go on, moving faithfully yet mutely through each day: I went to church. I walked on the beach and played with Percy. I answered the phone and paid the bills. I did the laundry. I spoke her name a hundred times. I knelt in the dark and said some holy words. I went downstairs, I watered the flowers, I fed Percy. That's it. No emotion here. She just did what needed to be done, including praying, though she was in that state where you seem to have lost all feeling. In the end though, after the poems of creation and poems of grief, what stand out are the affirmations of faith. In "Coming to God: First Days," she says "Lord, I would run for you, loving the miles for your sake./ I would climb the highest tree/ to be that much closer." In "Six Recognitions of the Lord," she celebrates "everywhere the luminous sprawl of gifts,/ the hospitality of the Lord and my/ inadequate answers as I row my beautiful, temporary body/ through this water-lily world." And, at last, in "Thirst," she writes "Another morning and I wake with thirst/ for the goodness I do not have. I walk/ out to the pond and all the way God has/ given us such beautiful lessons." Mary Oliver thirsts for God. Some will disagree with her lifestyle (Molly Malone Cook was truly her life partner), but her faith seems real as is her love of the world and her experience of grief. Those are things that must resonate with us, as we are human too. Most helpful is the accessibility of these poems. Many people will be able to read and enjoy them. The language is simple yet elegant. The "space" in the poems created by their economy is an almost aural testimony to the awe with which she regards the life of the world and, now, the One who made it all. I highly recommend this book of poetry. It's like walkiong through a room of Monet paintings: there's not much not to love. Use it to stimulate your own love of nature and of nature's God.

Beautiful book

Some really poignant poetry in this collection. High quality writing. Excellent expression of both grief and solace.

inspiration and connection to heart, mind, and body...

Quero conhecer mais dela!

insightful and moving work