Evidence

Never afraid to shed the pretense of academic poetry, never shy of letting the power of an image lie in unadorned language, Mary Oliver offers us poems of arresting beauty that reflect on the power of love and the great gifts of the natural world. Inspired by the familiar lines from William Wordsworth, “To me the meanest flower that blows can give / Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears,” she uncovers the evidence presented to us daily by nature, in rivers and stones, willows and field corn, the mockingbird’s “embellishments,” or the last hours of darkness.

In this new volume of forty-seven poems, Mary Oliver delves even deeper than she has in the past into the mysteries of life, love, and death. Exploring the evidence presented to us daily by the natural world, inspired by the familiar lines from William Wordsworth: “To me the meanest flower that blows can give / Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears,” Oliver offers poems of arresting beauty and insight. Never afraid to shed the pretense of academic poetry, never shy of letting the power of an image lie in unadorned language, Oliver’s work here reflects on the power of love and the great gifts of the natural world.

Mary Oliver is one of the most celebrated and best-selling poets in America. Her books include Red Bird; Our World; Thirst; Blue Iris; New and Selected Poems, Volume One; and New and Selected Poems, Volume Two. She has also published five books of prose, including Rules for the Dance and, most recently, Long Life. She lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts.