Mary Oliver’s use of some unnoticed elements such as diction, imagery, and syntactic patterns enhance the meaning of her poem, “The Journey”. Oliver uses an interesting word choice and tone when writing this piece, and when we observe these features it helps us understand her message to a greater extent. Many images, symbols, and metaphors are also used for this same purpose, to help develop the message being conveyed. The style and format of the poem aren’t very complex, but they can both be directly linked to the main point of the work too. All in all, by looking at the language, imagery, and layout of “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, we can see that this passage has many underlying and overlooked components that can contribute to our understanding of the controlling metaphor: life as a journey.

Through this analyzation, we notice the first component of the poem that can contribute to the controlling metaphor, and that is the language. When taking a first glance at the poem, the first words that stand out the most are the ones in quotes, “Mend my life!” (Oliver line 10). The assertiveness of this quote gives off an impression that the speaking voice has a necessity to change, which can directly correlate to the main idea of this piece. It can relate to the thought of changing or diverting away from the outside voices in order to listen to our own voice, so that we can live our lives to their fullest degree. Another part of the language that can relate to the overlying message comes into play with the word “melancholy” (line 17). Mary Oliver uses the word melancholy to describe the voices of society that stand in the way of our journey. This can also be interpreted as the obstacles or hardships everyone must encounter in order to truly become an individual. The main message of this poem is that if we listen to our own voice and cancel out what the negative voices are saying to us, then we can eventually learn who we are all meant to be. Another way these words can contribute to this message is that by ignoring these “outside voices,” we are mending our lives by becoming less melancholy, tuning out the bad influences.

Along with the diction Mary Oliver uses in the poem, imagery, symbolism, and metaphors also play a big role in depicting life as a journey. One major use of these textual elements in the poem is Mary Oliver’s reference to the “voice” (line 11) that screams at us and stands in our way. On paper it is seen as what it poses to be, just a voice; but after analyzing the poem as a whole we begin to see a brand new and bigger meaning behind the voice. The voice tries its best to appeal to our senses and control our thoughts; however, in order to genuinely travel on this journey of life we must take sacrifices and be able to turn down the negative aspects of life no matter how tempting they may be. Two more images in the passage can connect to the controlling metaphor. Oliver mentions a “house” in the beginning of the poem and then walking a “road” towards the end. These are related because figuratively you strive for leaving the house with all the negative voices so that you can listen to your own voice and walk the road of individualism. Lastly, a symbol that can be referenced is, “the road full of fallen / branches and stones” (lines 21-22). This symbol has a similar meaning to that of the voice: it serves as a reminder of hardships and challenges we have to surpass in order to recognize ourselves as individuals.

Finally, along with the qualities of the language and imagery of the poem, the layout and overall structure of “The Journey” reveals a lot about the metaphor that life is a journey. Oliver goes into so much detail when constructing this seemingly-simple poem, that the actual line divisions and sentence types can attribute to the main idea of the piece. Throughout the work she changes the sentence structure to fit what she is portraying at that specific time. For instance, the first half of the poem consists of short and choppy sentences to reflect our state of breaking down, the struggle we must overcome, and the challenges and obstacles that stand in our way. This is shown best when there are various forces coming upon the speaker including “the road full of fallen / branches and stones” (lines 21-22) and when “the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations” (lines 14-16). However, in contrast, the last sentence of the poem, which goes along for the last fourteen lines, is much longer and sounds a lot more fluent. Mary Oliver does this in order to describe the process where we ultimately figure out who we truly are and transform from being oblivious into our own individual. Consequently, analyzing the construction of the poem in greater detail, we can see that it reveals much more about the poem than what we find from reading it initially. 

In conclusion, Mary Oliver’s use of some unnoticed elements such as diction, imagery, and syntactic patterns enhance the meaning of her poem, “The Journey”. Not only does this analysis help us understand the text to a larger degree, but it also gives us an opportunity, as readers, to enjoy and appreciate the work and thought put into the author’s portrayal of life as a journey. Throughout the poem there are many instances where textual elements such as diction, imagery, symbolism, and metaphors enhance the meaning of Oliver’s words. All of these components come together to contribute to our understanding of the controlling metaphor in this piece. Therefore, by looking at the diction, imagery, and stylistic patterns of “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, we can see that this passage has many underlying and discounted elements that definitely contribute to our understanding and enjoyment of the controlling metaphor in the poem, life as a journey.
