A collection of 43 new poems from Pulitzer Prize-winner Oliver, "Thirst" introduces two new directions in the poets work. Grappling with grief at the death of her partner of over 40 years, she strives to experience sorrow as a path to spiritual progress, and chronicles her discovery of faith.

Reviews

Oliver, an award-winning "nature poet" with an eclectic following, here reveals an early desire that may come as a surprise to some readers: "I had such longing for virtue, for company./ I wanted Christ to be as close as the cross I wear. I wanted to read and serve, to touch the altar linen." Some poems address God, while others discuss the world: a delicate moth, a dear friend, the dog, Percy. Bereft after the death of her longtime partner, Oliver finds strength in a stoic struggle toward pure love that transcends one person. In this frame of mind, even a late-day walk in a snow storm brings comfort: "this world,/ which is falling apart now,/ which is white and wild,/ which is faithful beyond all our expressions of faith." In these self-effacing poems, Oliver continues her work of loving the world, acknowledging that not all love is returned and that "in matters of love/ of this kind/ there are things we long to do/ but must not do." For all collections.-E.M. Kaufman, Dewey Ballantine LLP Law Lib., New York Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Consoling, and intense interaction with the natural world abounds in the 43 poems of Pulitzer Prize-winner Oliver's new collection, as her many readers might expect. The trees whisper, a ribbon snake imparts lessons and the poet is likened to a swimming otter. What has changed, though, is that Oliver's new work reflects her faith in God and her grief over the death of her longtime partner. Those who do not share her brand of faith may or may not find its terms difficult to accept-"Everything is His./ The door. The door jamb"-but the loss of a loved one is more universal: of grief, she writes, "I went closer, / and I did not die." Still, many of these poems mention or court cataclysmic loss while refusing to dwell in it. At times, Oliver's will-to-gratitude can feel like preaching or admonishment; Oliver describes a luna moth with "a pale green wing whose rim is like a musical notation," before adding, "Have you noticed?" The role of danger or evil in this Eden is mostly unacknowledged: "... the things of this world / ... are kind, and maybe// also troubled." (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

To read "Thirst," is to feel gratititude for the simple fact of being alive. This is not surprising, as it is the effect [Oliver's] best work has produced in readers for the past 43 years. --Angela O'Donnell, "America Magazine"
"Mary Oliver moves by instinct, faith, and determination. She is among our finest poets, and still growing." --Alicia Ostriker, "The Nation"
"It has always seemed, across her [many] books of poetry, . . . that Mary Oliver might leave us at any minute. Even a 1984 Pulitzer Prize couldn't pin her to the ground. She'd change quietly into a heron or a bear and fly or walk on forever." --Susan Salter Reynolds, "Los Angeles Times"
"Mary Oliver. In a region that has produced most of the nation's poet laureates, it is risky to single out one fragile 71-year-old bard of Provincetown. But Mary Oliver, who won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1983, is my choice for her joyous, accessible, intimate observations of the natural world. Her "Wild Geese" hase