I try to be good but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be. It's impossible not to remember wild an want it back.
Mary OliverRead
Sometimes I spend all day trying to count the leaves on a single tree... Of course I have to give up, but by then I'm half crazy with the wonder of it--the abundance of the leaves, the quietness of the branches, the hopelessness of my effort. And I am in that delicious and important place, roaring with laughter, full of earth-praise.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the overwhelming beauty of nature and the joy found in the act of observation, despite the futility of trying to comprehend it all.
In this quote, Mary Oliver poetically expresses the experience of being captivated by the natural world, particularly through the imagery of counting leaves on a tree. The futile effort symbolizes our attempts to understand the complexity and abundance of life, while the laughter and joy signify that true appreciation of nature comes not from complete understanding, but rather from being present and experiencing its wonders.
Themes
NatureBeautyWonderObservationJoyLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of preserving nature, one might quote this to emphasize the joy found in simply being present in the natural world.
More from Mary Oliver
All quotes →At the time I was growing up, literature was involved with the so-called confessional poets. And I was not interested in that. I did not think that specific and personal perspective functioned well for the reader at all.
Mary OliverRead
I know the sag of the unfinished poem. And I know the release of the poem that is finished.
Mary OliverRead
For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.
Mary OliverRead
If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.
Mary OliverRead
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.
Mary OliverRead
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