“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. And it requires a vision–a faith, to use an old-fashioned term. Yes, indeed. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry. Yes, indeed.”
What struck me most about seeing Mary Oliver live for the first time tonight was not the small, sparky woman in a wooly cap reading some of the best mystical and nature poems of our time–but her audience. Surprisingly devoid of students, despite offering USCB students half off a bargain price, the thoughtful eccentrics in rows ahead of me–most gone salt-and-pepper grey–received Oliver like a saint. I kept thinking if America really knew Whitman, they might have welcomed him in his own time as Campbell Hall welcomed Mary tonight.
But America was proud then, though Whitman’s booming, muscular verse resounds beyond his age–an age of manifest destiny and industrial revolution. Now, conquest and materialism have rendered us more spiritually poor than ever, and we are even outsourcing our hollow promises to countries like India, along with torrents of email and our always-on tele-culture. That is why, I think, the audience cheered for her when Oliver mentioned, in passing, that she doesn’t own a computer. The signs leading up to the event proclaimed, “Mary Oliver / SOLD OUT.” Not true.
The world is still too much with us. That is why we are hungrier than ever for the lyric of patient attention, quiet revelation. Her poems seem democratic–as though anyone who thought deeply and lovingly about life could write them, and all of us have such moments. Yet hers is a deceptive elegance borne out of careful work. By such tender care a poem, like a living creature, can be nourished, as can a book, as can a life in poetry. In respect not only to the poems but to that life in poetry, the audience was all too eager to be entertained and moved–laughing at the cleverness, sighing at the tenderness, lapping up each chosen word, and hungering for more.
9 Comments
Now that’s an opportunity to grab. Seeing her live, glad you got the chance.
Me too.
The day after we bought tickets they were sold out.
Thanks for your commentary in my blog “La libreria” (better later than never). It cheers to me to have to a literary english reader although only is once day. You speak spanish? Sorry for my english (ja,ja)
Good, it does not have too much importance, either. But I would like that you visited this page: http://poemaseningles.blogspot.com that is mine too, and if you can give me your opinion that it seems to you. Thank you and greetings.
Vigo
Vigo – gracias por tu mensaje. Ya he visto este sitio de web, y pensé que las poemas fue traducido bien. Me gustarÃa mejorar mi Español para leer las poemas de Neruad, Machado, y lo demás con fluidez, y hacer a nuevo y mejorar en las traducciones a Inglés de poetas hispanohablante que no son tan común como ellos. Por eso, yo pensé que leyendo sitios literarios en español puede ayudarme en eso. Gracias otra vez por visitarme aquÃ.
Vigo – thanks for your message. I have visited this website, and thought the poems were translated well. I would like to improve my Spanish in order to read the poems of Neruda, Machado, and others fluently, and to make new translations and improve upon existing translations to English of other, less well-known Spanish-speaking poets. I thought that reading literary websites in Spanish could assist me to that end. Thanks again for visiting me here.
(y disculpeme mi Espa̱ol Рseguro que es inperfecto)
“patient attention, quiet revelation”
exactly what I’m loving about Jane Kenyon right now (I’m reading “Otherwise”). The world is definitely too much with us. wish I could have been with you guys at Mary Oliver!
best,
Michelle
Indeed, Michelle – wish you could have been there. To see a poet received so adoringly by her audience was heartening. And what a poet.
I guess I should add some Kenyon to next semester’s reading list …
I’m gleaning lot’s of great reading ideas from your site, Robert, so glad to offer something back. “Otherwise” is a terrific compilation of Kenyon’s work. I highly recommend.
Peace,
Mich
Thanks, Michelle. Glad you’re getting value from the site. I suppose that’s the one aspect of a “hi-res” MFA program we don’t get as much: the between-the-lines dialog and community that goes with poets being in the same physical space. Hopefully this virtual space (and other virtual spaces) can help fill that gap.
The same that I do when I visit english blogs (that world so unknown for me).
International greetings.