Morning Poem : : by Mary Oliver : born Maple Heights, Ohio and lived in Massachusetts and Florida. : : : : :
Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange
sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again
and fasten themselves to the high branches–
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands
of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails
for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it
the thorn
that is heavier than lead–
if it’s all you can do
to keep on trudging–
there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted–
each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,
whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.
“Mary Oliver
“Morning Poem” From The 1986 poetry collection , ‘Dream works’ , By An American Poet and prose writer , A winner of National Book Award ( 1992 ) , and A Pulitzer prize winner ( 1984 ) Mary Oliver, is About hope and new beginning. The sunrise 🌅🌄 / Dawn speaks about this and by that persons , happy or sad become conscious of the New 🆕 Day. She says , “ashes…turn into leaves again.” No matter what went before, the dawn as a new day / rebirth starts over again. : : : :
Stanza 1 : : “Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange” : : lines 1 To 4 : : : :
About “creation” Every morning and uses enjambment to bolster our focus. She wants us to keep recreation, new beginnings, in mind
Stanza 2 : : ” sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again” : : lines 5 To 8 : : : :
About “under the orange”/ that is , the ☀️ sun , the illuminant sunrays ( ” sticks” of the sun ) “the heaped ashes of the night turn into leaves again.” :that is, fire 🔥 of the sun which occurred that night before the sunrise giving away the “ashes” of the night to spread its new form of sunrays on the thin wooden branches of the tree again with a birth creations “in to leaves” Such turning in takes place everyday on “Morning” This reminds of “phoenix” bird rising from its burnt ashes anew , each time it is burnt , rebirth takes the re – birth again. : : : :
Stanza 3 : : “and fasten themselves to the high branches–
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands.” : : lines 9 To 12 : : : :
About shinning leaves ( “fastened” ) to the tall and top level branches of the tree and the “ponds appearing like black cloth ” which will continue to convey the meaningful images in the next Stanza 4 : : : :
Stanza 4 : : “of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails” : : lines 13 To 16 : : : :
About the islands of summer lilies on the ponds ( like black cloth ) and life 🧬 cycle of the creations on rebirth / new 🆕 hopeful beginning of life forms. Persons with nature to become / remain happy will see the beauty in Nature.
Stanza 5 : : ” for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it” : : lines 17 To 20 : : : :
About the day and night , that is , through daylight and darkness : ” expressed in the word ” for hours” ( 24 Hours ) : :
Stanza 6 : : “the thorn
that is heavier than lead–
if it’s all you can do
to keep on trudging–” : : lines 21 To 24 : : : :
About the ” thorn” that is heavier than lead – ” suggestive of sadness which weighs heavily on the mindset of a sad person having an oppressive sorrows ; whose senses and spirit are down- pressed. Such saddened persons are unable to see and enjoy beauty of creations occuring everyday , everywhere in Nature on each morning. If it is ( the case of saddened persons ) all they ” can do” is “to keep on trudging -” Meaning , they have to walk heavily with a struggle, yet firmly as they are aweary under great strain and stress. : : : :
Stanza 7 : : ” there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted–” : : lines 25 To 28 : : : :
About happy mindset capable of removing sadness of a saddened mind which is suggested by the expression, ” .. . deep within you a beast shouting.. . ” Hope for new 🆕 beginning / restarting / re – birth always exists even when the persons go aweary. The darkness remains as night long. Dawn will appear with the sunrays on the morning.
Stanza 8 : : “each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,” : : lines 29 To 32 : : : :
About “blazing lilies of each pond” appeared like a “dark cloth” are shinning intensely as with the blazing / bright sun blinding with its rapid and repeated shoots of sunrays. The dark pond with dazzling lilies is a ” prayer 🤲🙏 heard and answered lavishly ( richly ) every morning .” This is an eye – popping imaginary.
Stanza 9 : : ” whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.” : : lines 33 To 36 : : : :
About encouraging with notes to become heady and bold with the willingness to try or do something to become happy by overcoming the saddened mind with a view to seeing the beauty of creations in Nature and a light to feel happy. For this , it is not necessary to pray for it because happiness exists everyday on each morning 🌅🌄
“Morning Poem” , By Mary Oliver Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India July 19 , 2023 : : : : : : : :
MADHU MALTI 