Understand, I am always trying to figure out
what the soul is,
and where hidden,
and what shape-
New and Selected Poems, Volume Two, an anthology of forty-two new
poems-an entire volume in itself-and sixty-nine poems hand-picked by
Mary Oliver from six of her last eight books, is a major addition to a
career in poetry that has spanned nearly five decades. Now recognized as
an unparalleled poet of the natural world, Mary Oliver writes with
unmatched dexterity and a profound appreciation for the divergence and
convergence of all living things.
Mary Oliver is always searching for the soul of things. In poem after
poem, her investigations go from the humble green bean that nourishes
her and makes her wonder if something/-I can't name it-watches as I walk
the/rows, accepting the gift of their lives/to assist mine to the vast,
untouchable bliss of things you can't reach./But you can reach out to
them, and all day long./The wind, the bird flying away./The idea of God.
Oliver's search grows and is informed by experience, meditation,
perception, and discernment. And all the while, during her quest, she is
constantly surprised and fortified by joy.
This graceful volume, designed to be paired with New and Selected
Poems, Volume One, includes new poems on birds, toads, flowers,
insects, bodies of water, and the extraordinary experience of the
everyday in our lives. In the words of Alicia Ostriker, 'Mary Oliver
moves by instinct, faith, and determination. She is among our finest
poets, and still growing.' In both the older and new poems, Mary Oliver
is a poet at the height of her control of image and language.
