The “Wild Geese” is one of the most arresting poems by Mary Oliver, exploring the relationship between nature and humanity. The primary theme of the “Wild Geese” is the nature’s wonders and beauty, acknowledging how the world would become a better place if human beings adjust themselves with it. Through anaphora, metaphors, and personification, Oliver encourages her readers to be creative and imaginative, locating their position in the ‘family of thing”. The poem is relatively brief, written using a casual language which powerfully stimulates readers’ thoughts and feelings. The lines of the poem are not rhymed, but the melody is achieved primarily through rhythm and words repetition. This paper focuses on explicating the “Wild Geese”, emphasizing how various poetic devices have been used to explore the connection between nature and humanity.
The poetic device that opens up the poem is anaphora, entailing words repetition, especially, at the beginning of the first successive sentences. The poem “Wild Geese” starts as Oliver speaks directly to the people, stating “you do not have to be good, and “you do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting” (1-3). The repetitive use of the words “you do not” creates a soft rhythmic effect and attracts readers’ tenderness while inspiring the poem’s understanding. Oliver advises her readers on what they should primarily avoid, especially, trying to achieve moral goodness by repenting sins through suffering and penance. Therefore, although the poem may be considered as simple, its core message is extensively proactive.
The lines four and five claims that “your body” possesses a “soft animal” which needs to be let to “love what it loves” (4-5). In this line, Oliver employs the use of metaphor to compare humans body with a soft animal. This line opens up the poem’s primary theme of peoples’ association with nature. In this metaphor, Oliver tries to present a different way of thinking and viewing the human body, comparing it with an animal which needs to be allowed to love what it adores. Therefore, while the initial lines advise the readers what they should avoid, the fourth and fifth line acknowledges what should actually be done.
The sixth line of the poem invites the reader into a conversation, making a demand that “tell me about your despair, and I will tell you mine” (6). This line seeks readers’ attention, displaying a strong enthusiasm for sharing the story. The seventh line claims that, while human beings may take some time mourning misfortunes and difficult situations, “the world still goes on” (7). The next lines exemplify Oliver’s ability to present a beautiful and vivid image about nature, especially, the sun, birds, and rain. She states, “Meanwhile the wild geese high in the clean blue air are heading home again” (12-13). Therefore, Oliver conveys that while people are experiencing their life emotions, the wild geese are going home again, depicting their endurance during the winter.
The third literally device used in the poem is the personification, which entails giving human characteristics to inanimate objects. The last five lines of the poem connect the reader to nature, stating that, “whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese” (14-16). In these lines, Oliver reassures the readers regardless of the rate of loneliness, the word is present as a living entity requiring examination. The use of the words “offers”, “announces”, and “calls” personifies the world, depicting its friendly nature where people could view themselves. The last line “announcing your place in the family of things” wraps up the poem, explaining the world’s order and the rightful position of everything on the globe.
In “Wild Geese”, Oliver compares human condition with that of nature by using a lonely person for illustration. In evaluating human conditions, Oliver declares that “you do not have to be good,” evoking pity rather than animosity (1). Oliver’s poem describes the world as both welcoming and remarkably sympathetic to human beings. The world uses the wild geese’s voice to call for the desperate people, letting them know about their position in nature’s family. Therefore, the poem simplifies that the troubled condition of human beings could be eased by letting ones’ imaginations be natural, free, and creative.
In conclusion, the “Wild Geese” is one of the most arresting poems by Mary Oliver, exploring the relationship between nature and humanity. Oliver intensely uses anaphora, metaphor, and personification to provide a beautiful image of the poem. The poem begins with a repetitive use of words “you do not” in order to create a soft rhythmic effect. Oliver uses metaphor to compare humans body with a soft animal, creating a different thinking dimension. The poem personifies the world by using the characteristics of calling, offering and announcing, portraying nature’s most welcoming features. Therefore, the poem employs various poetic devices to argue that human condition could be eased by letting ones’ imaginations be natural, free, and creative.
Work Cited
Oliver, Mary. “Wild Geese”. Bloodaxe, 2004.
