Analysis of Do Stones Feel?

Mary Oliver 1935 (Maple Heights, OH) – 2019 (Hobe Sound, FL)



Do stones feel?
Do they love their life?
Or does their patience drown out everything else?

When I walk on the beach I gather a few
white ones, dark ones, the multiple colors.
Don’t worry, I say, I'll bring you back, and I do.

Is the tree as it rises delighted with its many
branches,
each one like a poem?

Are the clouds glad to unburden their bundles of rain?

Most of the world says no, no, it’s not possible.

I refuse to think to such a conclusion.
‘Too terrible it would be, to be wrong.


Scheme XXX AXA XXX X X XX
Poetic Form
Metre 111 11111 1111011101 11110111001 1111010010 110111111011 10111100101110 10 111010 1011101011011 110111111100 10111110010 1100111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 501
Words 111
Sentences 10
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 2
Lines Amount 13
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 62
Words per stanza (avg) 16

About this poem

The poet is expressing the idea that, a world in which Mother Nature is not conscious of itself isn't difficult to reject.

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Submitted by JokerGem on February 23, 2023

Modified by JokerGem on November 17, 2023

33 sec read
717

Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver was an award-winning poet with fans throughout the world. In addition to her numerous literary prizes, as noted by New York Times, Oliver was, "far and away, this country's best-selling poet." more…

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