If You Like “Dark Buds of Dreams”, Sounds in the Forest, and Long Walks
Dream Work by Mary Oliver
VIOLETS’ PICKS 015
Where I found it
A few weeks ago, Leonie, the one who publishes these posts to Substack, recommended Dream Work to me. So I logged in to the public library online to put it on hold. And there I saw that I already had Dream Work in my queue, and it was right at the very top: “Available to Pick Up”. I wrote back: Must be a sign!
By this point, I had become well-acquainted with Mary Oliver, having read several of her poems online and then in her collection, Owls and Other Fantasies. Though I tend to read a lot of contemporary poets—very into the idea of supporting and celebrating art and artists while they are still making and living—there’s a different kind of pleasure to be found in discovering the work of a poet who’s done their life’s work (Mary passed away in 2019), with two Pulitzers to show for it. It’s like the difference between discovering an up and coming artist and looking forward to their next thing, and going through the back catalogue of a musician who’s been doing it for years and years, and noticing all the ways that they’ve changed and all the ways they stayed the same.
First impressions
In full disclosure, I write these after I’ve read the books so sometimes it can be hard to remember what my first impression was exactly. I have a strong feeling that I was a bit pleasantly surprised by tension I felt in these poems, which seemed moodier, more unsettled, and less happy-go-lucky picturesque than the cover would suggest: A nicely framed piece of art with a boat nestled in what I assume is the coast of a small town, blue skies on the horizon. Post-read, looking at the cover leaves a different impression, like that was all just a dream. Maybe it was obvious, “Dream Work” being the title and all. I’ll leave it at that.
They said it
“One of the astonishing aspects of [Oliver’s] work is the consistency of tone over this long period. What changes is an increased focus on nature and an increased precision with language that has made her one of our very best poets. . . . 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, The New York Times Book Review
Lines to remember
I want to listen to the enormous waterfalls of the sun. —From “Dogfish”
Flaring and luminous — The patient parable Of every spring and hillside Year after difficult year. —From “Trilliums”
The god of dirt Came up to me many times and said So many wise and delectable things, I lay On the grass listening To his dog voice, Crow voice, Frog voice; now, He said, and now, And never once mentioned forever. —From “One or Two Things”
Have you dared to count the months as they pass and the years while you imagined pleasure, shining like honey, locked in some secret tree? —From “Whispers”
You might like this if…
You enjoy long walks by yourself. You like surrealist art and storytelling, maybe Midsommar or in a different setting but to me a similar vibe, Last Night in Soho. You adored the concept of Taylor Swift’s Midnights, a journey through 13 sleepless nights over the course of a life—and that space between awake and dreaming draws you in. You’re a fan of anything else Mary Oliver has written, familiar with her ability to turn mundane nature into the super natural, and you’re ready to be pleasantly surprised and electrified by some of her earlier work which delves beyond the world of landscapes and deeper into human relationships. Lastly, if you’re pretty new to poetry and are still looking for the thing that might blow your world open, I can never say for sure what will, but this from one of the most influential poets of our time, could just do it. And if not, but you like lush and striking descriptions of natural things—are you a painter, hiker, outdoorsy-type, perhaps?—then you should have at least a fine time.
This was the colour of…
Hazy mists and dreamscapes. Lavender and smoke and mud. The greens of paradise, and hillsides, and sizzling forests. The fading blacks of seas and crows and snarling nights.
Details
Year: 1986
Author: Mary Oliver, who wrote the popular phrase “wild and precious life”, in her poem This Summer Day
Location: Maple Heights, Ohio → Provincetown, Massachusetts → Hobe Sound, Florida
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
This Week’s Poem Scramble
How to play: Unscramble the following excerpt from one of Mary Oliver’s poems and find the full poem somewhere on the www. We’ll reveal the answer next Sunday.
ndA ot lfy, rof het frist miet, ni hetir eaesegn-r elthsme, htiw bskri, lalictem tsial— hace tleuld wnig, htiw revey ploodl fo flihgt, adgnwri a efpcret weehl asrsoc het ira.
Did you guess it? Tune in next week to find out if you got it right!
You’re reading Violets’ Picks, where every Sunday I take you through an adventure brought to you by a poetry collection. Here’s some other Violets’ Picks this month you may have missed:
Mary Oliver is one of those poets that I can't get enough of. Her work always draws me in, makes me feel comfortable before dazzling me and making me wonder what exactly is going on. The more read one of her poems the more uncomfortable I get (in a good way). Her work pushes me to think deeper about my connection to the natural world and the humans I share this place with.