What Do We Know: Poems - Hardcover

Oliver, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 030680994X ISBN 13: 9780306809941

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2002

Synopsis

For the many admirers of Mary Oliver's dazzling poetry and luminous vision, as well as for those who may only now be discovering her work, What Do We Know will be a revelation and, in the words of Stanley Kunitz, "a blessing." These forty poems—of observing, of searching, of pausing, of astonishment, of giving thanks—embrace in every sense the natural world, its unrepeatable moments and its ceaseless cycles. Mary Oliver evokes unforgettable images—from one hundred white-sided dolphins on a summer day to bees that have memorized every stalk and leaf in a field—even as she reminds us, after Emerson, that "the invisible and imponderable is the sole fact."What was most wonderful?The sea, and its wide shoulders;the sea and its triangles;the sea lying back on its long athlete's spine.What did you think was happening?The green breast of the hummingbird;the eye of the pond;the wet face of the lily;the bright, puckered knee of the broken oak;the red tulip of the fox's mouth;the up-swing, the down-pour, the frayed sleeve of the first snow—so the gods shake us from our sleep.—from "Gratitude"

About this title

About the Author

Mary Oliver is the author of more than ten volumes of poetry and prose, including American Primitive, New and Selected Poems, A Poetry Handbook, West Wind, Rules for the Dance, Winter Hours, and, most recently, The Leaf and the Cloud, which was both a Boston Globe and a Book Sense best seller. Her many accolades include the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Lannan Literary Award; in 1999 she received the New England Book Award for Literary Excellence from the New England Booksellers Association.

Edition details

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 030680994X
• ISBN 13: 9780306809941
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 88