Devotions: A Read with Jenna Pick: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

A fantastic book by one of my favorite poets. The poems have the ability to transport ones thoughts to the natural environment that Mary Oliver experiences. A must read. Suggest reading slowly to savour the poems. Such a delightful read!! Wild geese is one of my favorite poems of Mary Oliver

This book printing is very best But the packing is worst. The book is not covered by any polythene sheet not for any damage For the book .

Feel it and lift yourself to another plane

Binding and paper is good for a paperback. I had her ‘Dog songs’; this one is also nice if you want to read poems from different collections at one place.

You can open this book on any page and in a moment you will be transported to the woods, to the sunset or sunrise but most importantly to peace and quiet and bliss :)

Good book

I read it everyday !

The contents of the book is as expected but I received it in damaged condition and there were black mud like debris on the cover as well.

I mean, it's Mary Oliver. There is not much more to be said :)

Poesia pura, in lingua originale.

I am not a big reader of poetry - I can appreciate the beauty of verse and the play on words, but complex and abstract poems overwhelm me and my senses, and I don’t particularly enjoy the almost athletic mental agility demanded at times. Oliver’s poems chased away my fears and changed my perspective. I felt drawn to them because they are so honest and deceptively simple. They are like a balm for the parched soul, so calming and quiet, that reading them feels like a refreshing dip in cool waters. This volume offers an overview of Oliver’s illustrious career documenting the sanctity of the banal and the everyday, the unnoticed and the natural. The simple beauty of nature’s song is captured in Oliver’s clean, resonant verse. Some enduring themes run through her poems, celebrating the “wild and precious life”, the mystery of prayer, and how it goes beyond words, and yet is found in the reverential communion with and contemplation of creation. And it is with respect to the species just as it is to the individual. It may be the grasshopper ‘who is eating sugar out of [her] hand’ and ‘snaps her wings open and floats away’ (“The Summer Day”) or the deer who stumbled against her “so busy with her own happiness” and Oliver’s recognition of ‘the flower of her amazement and the stalled breath of her curiosity, and even the damp touch of her solicitude before she took flight’ (“Picking Blueberries, Austerlitz, New York, 1957”). Oliver celebrates beauty and its separateness from the performance of nature for Her own benefit. In the poems, she embraces impermanence and transience of each passing moment, and yet appreciates the eternal in that moment, where she fully partakes of life in the present. There is so much to appreciate and to contemplate in this collection that words would never suffice. I am convinced new and fresh wisdom would unveil itself with each revisit. It took me more than a whole year to spend time with this mammoth collection without rushing through it. Any attempt to would have been counter to the words that bid me to slow down and take my time. More than 5 solid gold stars.

Mary Oliver's *Devotions* is a breathtaking collection that distills the essence of her life's work into one volume. The anthology brings together over 200 poems, offering a profound exploration of nature, spirituality, and the human experience. Oliver's language is both simple and profound, with each poem inviting the reader to pause and reflect on the beauty and mystery of the world around us. Her observations are sharp yet gentle, capturing the sacred in the everyday. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to her work, *Devotions* is a treasure trove that provides comfort, inspiration, and a deep sense of connection to the natural world. It's the kind of book you'll return to again and again, finding new layers of meaning with each read.

Helt fantastisk!!!!