Literary Works

Literary Works

This research paper attempts to compare and contrast Mary Oliver's poem “Wild Geese” with Dickinson's “Because I could not stop for death.”

The poem Wild Geese of Mary Oliver was published in the year 1986 in Dream Work and is widely recognized as Oliver's most anthologized and mesmerizing pieces of works where Oliver investigates the basic connection that overlaps between a human mind and nature in general, focusing especially on the topic of wild geese. Amongst her other prominent works, Mary Oliver is seemingly recognized for her heart warming poetry based on the natural world, where she frequently tries to depict a connection between the animals and the various types of plant life to the human condition. In her poem “Wild Geese,” Mary Oliver made an attempt to encourage her reader to be more inspired and creative while at the same time persuading them to give up on all their loneliness in their lives by realizing his or her role “in the family of things”. Here by the word family, Oliver is trying to make reference to the family of nature involving sun, moon and rain, trees and prairies, mountains, lakes and rivers, and, most importantly wild geese flying off to their home. (Kohlberg L. 1975)

When reading her work for the first time, one does not needs to know that Mary Oliver is a nature poet in order to interpret her poems as that which is related to nature. In fact this clearly resonates through her work as she beautifully compares the conditions of nature with that to the humans. Just as one would suspect the nature comes out on the top within this comparison, clearly outlining the fundamental fact on how nature, plants and animals are far better than the human race. (Kohlberg L. 1975)

Although the premise of the poem seem to be somewhat simple yet the idea behind is indeed quite bold and provocative. In her poem Wild Geese, Mary Oliver is making an effort to inspire all her readers to come full circle uniting the future with the past in order to enhance the best within a human spirit. Moreover Oliver by using the strength of her words, in a rather encouraging tone whisks her readers with remarkable imagery of the untiring yet steadfast geese who on their wings return to their habitat hence convincing her readers to have a look within themselves. (Gilligan C, Attanucci J. 1988)

The story of Young Goodman Brown begins at an evening sunset in Salem Massachusetts as he leaves behind his newly wedded wife; Faith, in order to run an un foretold errand deep into the midst of a forest. Young Goodman Brown's wife of three months, pleads her husband to stay with her, yet he insists on moving ahead with his journey and persists on completing it within that same night. Once he sets on, Brown comes across a man who looks and dress quite similar to he himself. Just like Goodman Brown, the stranger was dressed in simple, ordinary clothes ...