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The Journey – Poetry Analysis
The poem, ‘The Journey’, by Mary Oliver is a brilliantly devised poem about one’s journey to self-realization. The poet uses stylistic and linguistic devices such as alliteration and metaphors, to truly engross the reader in the piece, and to effectively put across her message, which is of individuality, and the path to self-discovery.
The setting of this poem is largely metaphysical, as it does not take place in a physical location. Even though the poet mentions things like a ‘house’ and a ‘road, they do not actually exist. It is all taking place inside the poetic persona’s mind, showing that the conflict in the poem is the speaker versus herself. In this predominantly philosophical setting, there are not too many physical details revealed by Mary Oliver. The time of day, however, is indicated to be late night, as shown by the usage of the phrase ‘It was already late’. The ‘house’ which the poet refers to multiple times is symbolic for Oliver’s mind, leading the reader to understand that the conflict which seems to be occurring inside the house is all created by her.
The main character is actually the poet herself. Oliver uses the word ‘you’ several times throughout the poem, to indicate the fact that she is speaking to herself. The main focus is on the poet, who seems to be battling a problem in her life which she is unable to overcome. The verses that Oliver composes have a rather motivational tone. This is almost like she is trying to encourage herself, through the poem. To emphasize this, Oliver places words and phrases in the poem like ‘did not stop’, ‘knew what you had to do’ and ‘left their voices behind’.
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‘The Journey’ poses an existential question, not only to Mary Oliver, but to the readers as well. This is done with formal diction, for the entirety of the poem. The tone of the poem varies between each stanza. In the first stanza, the tone is encouraging, determined and a little reflective. This is evidenced when the speaker says that the poetic persona ‘didn’t stop’. These words highlight the resolute nature of the speaker, and the phrase ‘knew what you had to do’ represent the reflectiveness. In the other stanza, however, the poet’s tone became much more reflective, with a hint of accepting as well. It is more reflective as the poet’s viewpoint is looked at, and the accepting aspect is introduced when the poetic persona realized that she could ‘save the only life that you could’, which was her own. There is only one line of dialogue in the whole poem, which is of the ‘voices’ crying “Mend my life!” These ‘voices’ are symbolic for the numerous people that wish to be aided by you, but practically cannot all be helped. It represents how the speaker had to make many decisions along her journey to self-actualization.
There is a large amount of cacophonous diction embedded in the poem. Words and phrases like ‘bad advice’, ‘cried’, melancholy’, ‘terrible’, ‘stiff fingers’ and ‘tremble’ emerge throughout the poem. These words are used to create the air of something unpleasant, which is the speaker understanding that everyone cannot be saved in life. In the second stanza, though, more euphonious words are introduced, such as ‘left their voices behind’, ‘new voice’ and ‘your own’. This emphasizes how the journey changes the poetic persona’s view on life as she ventures on. In terms of figurative language, Oliver states in the first stanza that ‘the whole house began to tremble’. Not only does this paint a picture in the readers’ minds, but it also helps them understand how shaken up she was, as the house is a symbol for Oliver’s mind and thoughts. Similarly, the poet says that ‘y°u felt the old tug at your ankles’. Again, this allows the readers to clearly visualize a person with hands tugging at the bottom of their legs. In addition, it means that she felt like she was being held back or pulled down due to her assisting everyone in need at her expense.
The entire poem poses an existential question. The actual question applies to many people in real life. How are we supposed to make decisions that are not at our expense, which could greatly impact others’ lives? Oliver answers that question as her poem goes on, as the poetic persona’s viewpoint changes from one of worry to one of acceptance. The title of the piece is ‘The Journey’, which actually provides us with a remarkable amount of insight into what the poem is about, and what Oliver was thinking as she composed it. It tells us how she considers this change in mindset to be a ‘journey’; something that has to be embarked upon to accomplish.
In conclusion, it can be made out that the poet is speaking to herself through the poem, trying to convince herself to change her opinion on how to go through life. At first, the speaker is torn between doing what will benefit her, and doing what will help those who ask for her aid. As the poem progresses, she realizes that it is impossible to help everyone, without it adversely affecting her. As a result, she makes a conscientious decision to ‘save the only life that you could save’, which is her own.
