Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Journey,” simplifies determination into a small read. This poem states how one’s mind can control their actions, and also how the mind can keep us from being as successful as we are capable of being. Oliver explains how the mind will tell you to quit, but we are capable of pushing our limits and ignoring the voice in our head telling us to give up.  Oliver also explains that we can only be responsible for ourselves, because we only have control over the body we are in.

I find it quite strange how the breaks are in this poem. For example, in lines 5-7 it states, “their bad advice---/ through the whole house/ began to tremble.” I find this strange that it pauses so frequently.  I understand that the dashes after advice are used so the reader has time to truly comprehend what was just stated, but I do not see why it was proper to be used there. Also, in lines 16-18, “at the very foundations---/ though their melancholy/ was terrible. It was already late,” I find is strange once again that the dashes are used in this placement. I do not understand why Oliver would try to emphasize “at the very foundations.”  I also do not understand why in line 18 a new sentence is started. I do not understand why Oliver did not start a new line for a new sentence.

I do really enjoy the words Oliver used in this poem. For some reason, even though I do not believe the words flow together with one another, I find the words to have meaning to me. I believe the main reason I like the wording is because common words were used, so there were no weird, uncommon words used to make it ‘sound better.’ All of the words used in this poem are words I would use regularly. I also liked how Oliver only wrote one line of dialogue down in this poem, and I believe that was a smart idea. “’Mend my life!’” is all that is used, and this really helps it stick out to the reader. 

I find that this poem is easy for everyone to relate to. It shows things that every human goes through. When we ignore the voices in our head that are telling us to do unproductive things, we will progress in life. On the other note, we should listen to our minds when they are pushing us to be greater. This poem shows that we have control over one person in this world, ourselves.

Overall, I found this poem to be one of very few that I actually enjoyed. Although the format is strange, I still really enjoyed the meaning to the poem. I do believe it could be revised through the way that the lines are set up, but other than that I would not change a thing. This poem truly helped me realize that everyone has the same issues with their minds. All of us can get caught off track or become lazy. With determination, we can make anything happen.