I try to be good but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be. It's impossible not to remember wild an want it back.
Mary OliverRead
At the time I was growing up, literature was involved with the so-called confessional poets. And I was not interested in that. I did not think that specific and personal perspective functioned well for the reader at all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mary Oliver expresses her belief that confessional poetry may not resonate with readers due to its personal nature.
In this quote, Mary Oliver reflects on her formative years in literature, specifically addressing the trend of confessional poetry that focuses on personal experiences. She suggests that such an approach may not serve the reader effectively, implying that literature should strive for broader, more universal themes rather than overly intimate perspectives that might alienate the audience.
Themes
LiteraturePoetryConfessionalPersonalReader
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the role of personal experiences in writing, you might quote Mary Oliver to emphasize a broader connection with audiences.
More from Mary Oliver
All quotes →I know the sag of the unfinished poem. And I know the release of the poem that is finished.
Mary OliverRead
For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.
Mary OliverRead
If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.
Mary OliverRead
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.
Mary OliverRead
The god of dirt came up to me many times and said so many wise and delectable things, I lay on the grass listening to his dog voice, frog voice; now, he said, and now, and never once mentioned forever from, One or Two Things
Mary OliverRead
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