Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver
Where to find this book at Reed Memorial Library:
- Adult non-fiction
- Call number: 811.54 OL4d
- View it on our catalog
A peaceful poetry collection is this month’s recommendation from Annie in Youth Services. Devotions is a carefully curated selection of poems by Mary Oliver about nature, contemplations, and life.
Writer Mary Oliver hails from Maple Heights, Ohio, and grew up in the Cleveland suburb. She’s written many books of both poetry and prose, earning a Pulitzer Prize for her book American Primitive.
Devotions is a collection of Mary Oliver’s beloved poetry, a 442-page body of work. Many of her pieces meditate on nature and humanity, and critics have likened her writing to that of Walt Whitman’s.
I do not know what gorgeous thing
the bluebird keeps saying,
his voice easing out of his throat,
beak, body into the pink air
of the early morning. I like it
whatever it is…
Mary Oliver, “What Gorgeous Thing,” Devotions, p. 28
Annie says of Devotions, “It’s a collection of 200 poems in one book! I can’t get enough of Ohio-born Mary Oliver; she puts into words the things I feel but cannot say.”
To learn more about Mary Oliver, you can read her biography from Poetry Foundation, or you can peruse other works by her on our library catalog. For now, here is a happy parting sentiment:
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.
Mary Oliver, “Don’t Hesitate,” Devotions p. 61
Thanks for the recommendation, Annie!
Sincerely, Cornelius 