I recently got a book of selected poems by Mary Oliver because I wanted to get into poetry after school ruined it for me and I really liked her connection to nature. But I'm not sure how I should approach it. Is it better to read the poems back to back or should I try an approach like reading one or a couple a day and stewing in it before continuing? or do yall actually interpretation every single line like in school? What do you do?
by coolestdudette
2 Comments
I don’t read poems back to back. I have a hard time focusing on them and absorbing them that way. I also don’t read short story collections one after the other. I give myself a reflection break after each one. Also, even with full length books, I take a break between them so they can sink in.
I have two Mary Oliver collections, devotions and blue horses. I just open them at random and read, let it run through me. I don’t seek to intellectualise it, rationalise or analyse it, rather feel it. But some people enjoy dissecting it and I can see how that might add greater meaning for them. I prefer to just feel the poem. Like you said I’ve often heard people say having to dissect poetry to death for school ruined their natural love of poetry or literature.