Sample Analysis of Crossing the swamp

Sample Analysis of Crossing the swamp Mary Oliver is using an extended metaphor about the swamp by defining it as being a closure and a struggle plus it’s “the center of everything.” The author of the poem grabs the reader’s attention with the phrases about knocking of the bones classifying the journey as something that doesnt relate to physical moves but to mental actions for solving lifetime problems. Mary Oliver is building up the relationship between the person and the swamp basing on the fear and then she develops this feeling into a new form that is not negative. There’s a line proving the transmission of the feelings, “I feel not wet so much as painted and glittered”. The manifestation of appearance change characterizes the change in mind and soul. It can be called a feeling of rebirth that appears after facing a new challenge with “a poor dry stick given one more chance by the whims of swamp water … make of its life a breathing palace of leaves.” The change in mind appears so clearly that the reader has to read the poem several times to notice the moment where the fear disappears. The main character is not wet anymore, so there’s no negative attitude to the swamp. Being painted and glittered means a new page of someone’s life that has suffered from problems before. A person can start a new life only after a certain dirt that will spoil everything at first. Mary Oliver uses an extended metaphor to express very complicated obstacles that every human faces sooner or later. This situation can lead someone to a success while it will kill the mind and soul of another person. The author uses the consonance “foothold, fingerhold, mindhold” to make them sound as an important message about the mental obstacle despite the fact it’s a physical one. The phrase “cosmos, the center” is placed on a separate line that represents a specific dilemma that a person faces. It’s the key phrase of the poem that is supported by the words “is struggle” and “closure.” The poem ends with the phrase “palace of leaves” that indicates the full transformation of the personality that has overcome the complicated situation in life and a new beautiful world appeared in front of him or her. Mary Oliver is using alliteration to emphasize some key ideas in her poem. For example, a repetition of sound “b” and “p” express the fear and the struggle together with the difficulty of the path that a person should go along to reach something new and positive. Thanks to this technique, a reader can experience similar feelings as the main character does throughout the whole poem. Mary Oliver is a well-known poet, her poem about the swamp is a manifestation of positive outcome of even the worst obstacles during the life of any human. She uses the phrases and the combinations of words and sounds to make the readers experience the feelings of fear at the beginning and satisfaction at the end of the pathway.