Dog Songs is a collection of new and favorite poems by esteemed, popular poet Mary Oliver. The 35
poems plus one longer prose-poem-essay that cap off this slender volume,
revolve around dogs and all they mean personally to Oliver, while
elevating to more universal themes of the human-canine bond and how the
companionship of dogs anchors people to the natural, "heaven of
earth" world.
Pen and ink drawings by illustrator John Burgoyne mirror the unadorned language that makes Oliver's poetry both
intriguing and accessible. Each poem evokes poignant, thoughtful observations
about the dogs that have enriched Oliver's life and work. Often in just a few,
carefully chosen phrases, simple dog pleasures such as daily walks, frolicking
in the grass, smelling flowers, chasing mice, darting ahead and going off leash
depict a dog's ability to live joyfully in the moment without the anxieties of
the past or the future. These vivid metaphors inspire human counterparts to
also seek a more vibrant richness of life.
Oliver's poems about her beloved dog
Percy—named after Percy Bysshe Shelley, the English Romantic poet—are succinct
and clever. Percy's evolution is creatively explored with insight, compassion
and humor as he mischievously eats books, has a rendezvous before he's neutered
and even keeps the author company while she does her income taxes. "I am
trying to live...the examined life. But there are days I wish there was less in
my head to examine," writes the poet. Dogs, in their carefree,
unconditional friendship and adoration, offer Oliver—and readers—a
hopeful respite.
Penguin
Press HC, $26.95 hardcover, 97801594204784 , 144 pp
Note:
This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form)
with the permission of Shelf
Awareness. To read this review on Shelf
Awareness: Reader's Edition (10/22/13), click HERE