
Life itself is a journey that each of us will venture out on in search of our own self freedom. Very seldom do we question our journey or ponder what exactly is happening. Life is sometimes too complicated to summarize and put into words. We simply progress through life without ever contemplating the journey from our miserable struggles to our determined self-improvement. Mary Oliver, however, seeks to explain this inevitable passage through life in her poem, “The Journey.” In doing this, Oliver attempts to reach out to the reader and connect with them through the use of descriptive words, symbolism, imagery, and style. She exposes this metaphor of life as a journey by guiding the reader through certain challenges towards a concluding discovery of self and freedom. 

Words can be so simple, yet represent so much meaning and significance. One way that Oliver succeeds in connecting the reader to the poem is through her use of descriptive words. Throughout her poem, Oliver uses words that portray certain feelings in order to connect emotionally with the reader. For the majority of “The Journey,” Oliver expresses some negative emotions related to our journey in life. In doing so, she uses words such as, “tremble,” (line 7) “cried,” (line 11) “melancholy,” (line 17) and, “terrible,” (line18). These particular words evoke despairing emotions from the reader. Then the reader can associate these negative feelings with unpleasant events from their own lives. Near the end of the poem, there is a shift in tone from dismal to more hopeful. After this tone shift, Oliver uses words such as, “company,” (line 30) “determined,” (line 33) and, “save,” (line 36). By using positive words, the whole tone of the poem changes to portray the optimistic ending of the journey through life. Oliver elicits encouragement and determination from within the reader to finish out his/her own life journey in the search of self freedom. Through her use of either positive or negative words, Oliver creates different tones in the poem that capture different moods within the reader. This allows the reader to associate these different moods with corresponding events in their own lives which enables the reader to effectively connect with “The Journey.” 

A poem is not completely understood by solely reading the words in it, but rather by being able to visualize and feel what is happening. Oliver achieves this through her use of imagery and the senses of the human body. “The Journey” is written as though it is a sequence of scenes in a movie that the reader can imagine themselves going through. In the poem, Oliver references a trembling house (lines 6-7), voices calling out to the reader (lines 3-5, 10-11), a road with branches and stones (lines 21-22), and stars shining through clouds (lines 25-26). All of these evoke certain senses humans possess that enable us to read the poem and imagine ourselves going through the scenes as though we are actually in the poem. Through our sense of sight, we can envision the trembling house (lines 6-7), we can imagine ourselves walking down an imaginary road with branches and stones strewn across it (lines 21-22), and we can visualize a cloudy night sky with stars shining through (lines 25-26). These are the lines in the poem which allow the reader to imagine “The Journey,” as though it is an actual illustration. Through the sense of touch, the reader is able to imagine the feeling of a tug on his/her ankle (lines 8-9). And finally, through the sense of sound, the reader can hear different despairing voices calling out to him/her. The reader can hear one particular voice cry out, “Mend my life!” (line 10) Oliver uses our senses so that the reader is able to see, feel, and hear certain things that are happening in the poem which allows the reader to mentally relate to the poem.

One of the most efficient ways to form an emotional relationship between a poem and the reader is by the use of symbols. Oliver creates symbols in many different objects and phrases throughout “The Journey,” which the reader can interpret in many different ways. The trembling house (lines 6-7) can represent the reader feeling suppressed in his/her own mind along with the need to escape whatever is holding him/her back. The voices (line 3) can be a literal representation in which the reader imagines the voices of actual people that have negatively impacted his/her life. Or, in a figurative sense, the voices can simply represent harmful people or impulses in one’s everyday life. The reader can imagine themselves escaping the negative impacts of detrimental matters in their own lives. The reader can also picture the road (line 21) as a metaphorical pathway through life. The branches and stones in the road (line 22) can represent chaos and confusion in everyday life. These can be any sort of troubles such as, negative people, harmful objects, unhealthy habits, toxic relationships, and more. In the last lines of the poem, Oliver mentions “determined to save / the only life you could save,” (lines 35-36) which can mean saving one’s own life. This statement can be taken in many different ways. The reader can imagine it meaning they can only save their own life, so they should focus on themselves instead of others. It can also be implied that the reader is in a bad place in life and needs to save themselves from their troubling past. The use of symbols does not necessarily mean Oliver is alluding to one particular object or idea. The reader can interpret symbols in any way they want in order to make a relation to their own journey in life. 

One final way that Oliver is able to connect the reader to “The Journey,” is through the style in which she wrote. The style of a passage is what determines if the reader will be able to make a connection to that writing or not. With “The Journey,” Oliver produced a straightforward and easy-to-understand text. She used simple words that did not challenge or confuse the reader. This technique makes the poem comprehensible to any audience. Oliver also wrote in the second person point of view, meaning she wrote as though speaking directly to the reader. By doing this, the reader feels as though the poem is directed at him/her, making the storyline more intriguing for the him/her. In other texts, the reader might have to imagine a different character that he/she might not be able to connect with. That leads the reader to become easily bored or unable to emotionally connect with the text. Oliver wrote her poem in such a way that the reader can actually imagine themselves traveling through the journey of life. The reader does not have to make up a character or attempt to visualize a scenario that is irrelevant to their lives. They can easily envision themselves in these situations throughout the poem. By speaking directly to the reader, Oliver is able to form a strong mental and emotional connection between the reader and the poem. 

As we progress through life, we hardly ever take a moment to look back and reflect on our journey. Sometimes we go through life completely ignoring past endeavors and challenges. We will arrive at a point in our lives when we are stable and happy, and we will wonder how we got to that point. Mary Oliver perfectly captures this journey through life in her poem. She enables herself to connect emotionally with the reader through her uses of descriptive words, imagery, symbolism, and style of text. The reader is able to envision themselves as the main character of this storyline which then allows them to form these emotional and mental connections with the poem. She takes the reader on a reminiscent trip through their own life journey, from the hardships and despondent times to an ending of hopefulness and determination. Mary Oliver was truly able to create a poem that allows the reader to live the storyline instead of simply reading the words. 
