Writer of the poem “ Sleeping in the forest”, Mary Jane Oliver was an American poet whose work displays great affinity toward nature. She was inspired by nature and tranquillity, her long solitary walks Needless to say the human world was repulsive to her and therefore her poems were woven in a world of wonder of nature and its powers.
Being among the best-selling poets of all time, she has won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Memories of Ohio have a great role to play in Mary Oliver’s poetry and evidently, the background of most of her poetry revolves in and around Provincetown in the 1960s. His works show the influence of great writers like Walt Whitman and Thoreau and more often she has been compared to Emily Dickinson.
These writers show the same thirst for nature, solitudes and monologue. One of the most important qualities that we often come across in her works like “Sleeping in the Forest” is the combination of a dark degree of introspection along with the joyful release.
Sleeping in the Forrest: Structure
Mary Oliver’s poem does not follow a specific rhyme scheme. Composed in enjambment style, it consists of eighteen lines that do not rhyme. This may be a conscious attempt on the poet’s part to defy the world of system and structure built by humans which is highly unnatural and refrains us from coming into deep affinity with nature.
Sleeping in the Forrest Analysis
Mary Oliver begins the poem with mystery. She says she thought the earth remembered her, she took her back tenderly while arranging her ‘dark’ pocket which is full of lichens and seeds. She had slept as never ” a stone on the riverbed”. Nothing lay between the poet and the white shining of the stars.
She compares her thoughts to “moths among the branches of the perfect trees.” They are light and floating in a serene atmosphere. The poet could hear the screeches of insects around her, which added to the calm atmosphere. She could also hear birds who liked to work at night.
Throughout the night the poet rose and fell and compares herself to being in the water, rising and falling with its grappling momentum with a luminous doom. It is important to note how the poet uses ominous words like ‘dark’ and ‘doom’ several times forming a contrast to everything else that she says. Visibly, the night would have to calm and soothing effects on her as she would-
“By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.”
By morning time she would have vanished into something “better”; better by a dozen times, as she had immersed herself in an unforgettable experience.
Themes And Literary Devices in Sleeping in the Forrest
‘‘Sleeping in the Forest’’ by Mary Oliver uses the themes of nature. The dark background that she uses to describe nature provided her with a luminous experience and this is exactly what Mary Oliver endeavours to pen-paint in her poem. Depiction of nature and the transcendental effect it can endow us with occupies the central position in the poem.
The poet Mary Oliver uses abundant metaphor, similes, alliteration etc to convey the mood and tone of the poem. Alliteration is used in many lines including the first two lines where she uses ‘t’ –
“I thought the earth remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly”
A metaphor for death appears when the poet talks, about the earth taking back the body tenderly
” she took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. ”
Imageries have been used to describe “the white fire of the stars” and Mary Oliver uses metaphor to compare her thoughts to “moths among the branches of the perfect trees.” The phrase “luminous doom” acts like an oxymoron with the intention of suggesting inevitable darkness is something luminous for the poet.
FAQs
What is the mood of ‘Sleeping in the Forest?’
The poem “Sleeping in the Forest” begins with a mood of tranquillity and serenity which help the poet pen paint nature at its best. The dark background that she uses to describe nature makes the mood and tone of the poem sombre providing her with a luminous experience.
Why did Mary Oliver write ‘Sleeping in the Forest?’
Mary Oliver writes ‘‘Sleeping in the Forest’’ with the main of inspiring readers to become one with nature and share the same luminous experience that she paints in her poem.
What is the meaning of ‘Sleeping in the Forest?’
The poem ‘’Sleeping in the Forest’’ signifies that nature can be a recluse and help us forget about our mundane existence and connect to nature on a personal level.