Messenger

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2006

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Voice

This poem is written in first person and the voice of the poet can be assumed to be akin to that of the poem’s speaker. The poem begins with the speaker saying, “[m]y work is loving the world” (Line 1). The reader gets a glimpse into the internal dialogue of the speaker of the poem as she asks, “Are my boots old? Is my coat torn? / Am I no longer young […] Let me / keep my mind on what matters, / which is my work” (Lines 6-9). The speaker utilizes the first-person pronouns “my” and “I,” indicating that she is solely speaking from her own perspective. The reader is not required to take a stance, but instead to simply be present to receive the speaker’s considerations.

In the last two lines of the poem, the speaker states she is “telling them all, over and over, how it is / that we live forever” (Lines 19-20). For the first time, the speaker addresses the nature around her as “them” and finally moves from speaking in the singular to the plural first-person pronoun “we” (Line 20). This shift helps bolster the blissful nature of the poem’s conclusion. The speaker not only includes herself as one with nature, but the reader is brought into the fold as well. “We” (Line 20) refers to everyone and everything—all of humanity and nature are a part of the same spiral between life, death, and working on how to live life best.

Form & Meter

Throughout this free verse poem—meaning that it does not occupy nor make use of a set rhyme scheme or meter—Oliver utilizes repetition to create a variety of rhythms. In the first stanza, the speaker uses multiple different images as if she is simply pointing from one thing to the next by repeating the word, “here” (Lines 2, 4, 5). The speaker says, “Here the sunflowers” (Line 2) and “Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums. / Here the clam” (Lines 4-5). By punctuating the repetitive “here” with “there,” Oliver conjures an almost sing-song rhythm to the beginning of the poem. This adds to the sweetness of the imagery and the simple yet dreamy scene they create.

In the second and third, and beginning of the last stanza, the speaker repeats the word “which” to create space between herself and the feeling from the first stanza, which directly mirrors her mind’s break with the serenity of nature and her effort in turning her thoughts to it. The repetition of the word “which” creates a type of halt in the rhythm. This further signals that the flow of the first stanza has been left behind as the speaker pivots toward a different thought. The focus of the poem swivels with each repetition of the word “which,” allowing the speaker to come to the expansive final thought on which she ultimately ends. This motion of the speaker’s turning thoughts also echoes the spiraling dance of life and death on which the poem hinges.

Setting

At first glance, it seems that the setting of this poem is nature. More than just nature, this poem deals with the setting of home. Home here does not connote a house, but positions the human within their natural home—the natural world that always exists around them. In the first stanza, the speaker hints at domestication with the description of “the quickening yeast” (Line 4); this implies baking or even home brewing of beer. However, this is the only image reminiscent of domesticated house and home. Instead, the rest of the setting of this poem is overt descriptions of nature. By imbedding the image of the quickening yeast, with images of animals, birds, and flowers, the speaker seamlessly removes the artificial barriers of house. The perceived barriers between human and nature fall away and instead human and nature intersect, intertwine, and weave together in ways that feel natural and comfortable. In this way, the nature surrounding the speaker becomes home, and thus the speaker is able to locate herself within that liminal dance of joy between life and death when she recalls her position within the natural world.