‘When Death Comes’
by Mary Oliver
When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
***
Many thanks to regular Flutter commentor Nana Jo for pointing me in the direction of Mary Oliver and ‘When Death Comes’.
Born Sept. 10, 1935, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., Mary Oliver is an American poet whose work reflects a deep communion with the natural world. Oliver attended Ohio State University and Vassar College but did not earn a degree. Her volume American Primitive (1983), which won a Pulitzer Prize, glorifies the natural world, reflecting the American fascination with the ideal of the pastoral life as it was first expressed by Henry David Thoreau.
In other words, a bit of a legend.
(Source: britannica.com)
8 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 20, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Ms. Moon
Jeez. Everyone I love on the internet loves Mary Oliver. I think I need to get on board because everything I read by her says what I think.
June 22, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nigel Featherstone
Ms Moon, I’m only discovering Mary Oliver, but based on ‘When Death Comes’ I’ll be searching out more of her work.
June 20, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nana Jo
You’re wonderfully welcome. Like Ms. Moon says …. everything Mary Oliver writes is like a recognition of something within myself. I’m glad you embraced her this weekend.
June 22, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nigel Featherstone
Nana Jo, the timing of you sending me this Oliver poem was just brilliant. And that shouldn’t be seen as something grim and worrying, just that sometimes these things come along and it feels so… appropriate. Somehow ‘When Death Comes’ actually makes me feel happy!
June 20, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jun
itallstarted
“and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence”
I can’t explain to you how much I love those four lines.
June 22, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jun
Nigel Featherstone
Yep, for music lovers it’s a wonderful set of lines, huh?
The ones that resonate for me are:
‘When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.’
(Probably because I seem to be sighing alot these days. Best to take notice of that.)
July 6, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jul
my2fish
nigel, that was a great poem – thanks for sharing. I really like the last few lines you quoted just above, but I’d also include the last one:
“I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”
fantastic.
cheers, my2fish
July 6, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Jul
Nigel Featherstone
Hi my2fish, thanks for visiting. Yes, this is a great, great poem – accessible but profound. The line you like is wonderful. How good it is when we feel as if we’re more than merely ‘visiting’.