Why I Wake Early

March 15, 2004
Oliver is beloved for the directness and clarity with which she celebrates the beauty, ingenuity, and bounty of the natural world, whether it's the grandeur of the ocean or the joyfulness of dogs. In "Mindful," one of the 40 new poems gathered in the second volume of Oliver's resonant " New and Selected Poems" (the first was published in 1992), she declares: "It is what I was born for-- / to look, to listen." In "Bone" she writes, "Understand, I am always trying to figure out / what the soul is." These are the undertakings of a spiritual poet, and Oliver extols the devotional habits of attentiveness and gratitude as she describes her walking meditations and conducts her unique form of metaphysical inquiry. Prayerful new poems harmonize beautifully with selections from six earlier collections, including " What Do We Know " (2002) and" The Leaf and the Cloud" (2000).

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her poetry, Oliver also writes exquisitely lucid prose. Here, in her most generously personal essays to date, she articulates the beliefs, observations, and inspirations that feed her poetry as she contemplates the majestic beauty of the earth and its splendid creatures, including humankind. Oliver ponders death and remembrance, marvels over the unexpected boon of an old town dump, considers the indelible impression left by childhood revelations of the power and mystery of nature, and reveals her literary legacy in a set of sterling tributes to Wordsworth, Emerson, and Hawthorne. And, finally, this essential American poet literally brings it all home in a radiant reflection on the crucial "connection between soul and landscape." (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)