Poetry and Family

"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver

Tone: The poem's tone is gentle and consoling; Oliver begins by lowering the reader's obligations with "you do not have to." Then she describes very calm, lyrical images of nature, consoling those despairing with beautiful images. The way the poem is written second-person, directly to the reader, gives the poem an intimate tone.

Word choice: Oliver's most notable word choice lies in the images of gentle motion. Words like "goes on," "moving across," and "heading home." We have very clear images of the sun, the rain, and these geese moving across the land and the sky in a heavenly way, calling us to join.

Imagery: As I said before, the imagery is largely lyrical depictions of nature's gentle motion. Near the beginning, there is the contrasting image of crawling through the desert, an abrasive and exhausting motion, that serves to offer an idea of what mustn't be done. We must not torture and debase ourselves to be loved.

Structure: I would characterize the form of "Wild Geese" as largely free verse. There is most certainly a rhythm to the sentences, but there is no regular rhyme scheme. The sentences are broken into lines simply to isolate phrases of importance, to slow the reader and make them take extra care when considering the phrases. There is repetition of the "you do not have to" and then the "meanwhile." These choices lend the poem a cohesion.

Theme: "Whoever you are," despite whatever you have done or what has perhaps been done to you, you have a home and a family in nature.

While Oliver's message is applied specifically to nature, I feel that it is even more widely applicable. The idea that one's childhood home and biological, nuclear family must be one's home and family is inaccurate. As she explains, even nature offers itself up to us as a home and a family. I find that, in this case, nature is one form that a surrogate family can take. In the work of indie-darling filmmaker Wes Anderson, the family is a huge thematic focus--specifically the way we seek surrogate families in lieu of our own dysfunctional ones. While I have mostly come to terms with the ways in which it fails (largely through lengthy, illuminating conversations with my likeminded older brother), my family is not precisely how I imagine a comforting and safe family. Though I like my home, its inextricable ties to this family leave me ambivalent, so I am excited to seek out new replacements moving forward with my life. That isn't to say that I will cut ties with my parents; I simply will find people who can substitute in where they may have lacked. As Oliver explains, nature is one place that I might find that nourishment. I can "love what [I] love" and it will continue to call to me.