Dog Songs Author: Visit Amazon's Mary Oliver Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1594204780 | Format: PDF
Dog Songs Description
Review
The New York Times
“Dog Songs....is a sweet golden retriever of a book that curls up with the reader.”
About the Author
Born in a small town in Ohio, MARY OLIVER published her first book of poetry in 1963 at the age of twenty-eight. Over the course of her long career, she has received numerous awards. Her fourth book, American Primitive, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984. She has led workshops and held residencies at various colleges and universities, including Bennington College, where she held the Catharine Osgood Foster Chair for Distinguished Teaching. Oliver currently lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
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- Hardcover: 144 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The; First Edition edition (October 8, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1594204780
- ISBN-13: 978-1594204784
- Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I purchased this volume of poems DOG SONGS after hearing Mary Oliver interviewed on NPR. The collection is small, consisting of about 35 poems, some of which have been published in previous editions of Ms. Oliver's poetry, accompanied by beautiful drawings of what I assume are of the many dogs that have enriched this Pulitzer-prize-winning poet 's life over the years.
The poems are warm, moving and sometimes sad and cover every aspect of a dog's stay on this earth-- which the poet acknowledges is too short-- from his beginnings ("How It Begins"), to the joy that he brings to those who know him ("Little Dog's Rhapsody in the Night"), to his just being a dog (Percy), to her death ("Her Grave").
Ms. Oliver obviously loves dogs as much as anyone can as every page in this book bears witness. She takes her dog to the poetry class she teaches, making sure she has that requirement in her contract ("The Poetry Teacher"); she has cancelled trips ("Conversations") because of a beloved dog:
I had to go away for a few days so I called
the kennel and made an appointment. I guess
Bear overheard the conversation.
"Love and company," said Bear, "are the adornments
that change everything. I know they'll be
nice to me, but I'll be sad, sad, sad."
And pitifully he wrung his paws.
I cancelled the trip.
And Ms. Oliver writes again and again of her wish that dogs could run free as she expresses so eloquently in "If You Are Holding This Book":
You may not agree, you may not care, but
if you are holding this book you should know
that of all the sights I love in this world--
and there are plenty--very near the top of
the list is this one: dogs without leashes.
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