Throughout Mary Oliver’s poem “The Journey” you can see that her writings are not dull like others tend to be. Instead of her pieces just containing mundane words, she uses words that are more like music and that have a choreography. She recently stated “I don’t think of myself as a poet; I just get up and write”.  Throughout the whole piece she manages to intrigue the reader and makes her point very clear. She uses personification and words with motivation to keep the reader in tune and focused the whole time.

Mary Oliver does a great job getting her readers to connect with her writings. She not only uses rhythm in her poem but it also consists of very deep thought. When reading “The Journey”, most individuals will notice that there are very few stops. She does this to illustrate how life is one big journey that is on going forever. There will be a few speed bumps but other than that it is like a roller coaster so you better hold on for dear life. She makes a point to start the poem out with “One day you finally knew”. This communicates with the reader in that one day they will figure everything out in their life and who they really are. Most believe that it is impossible to thrive in life if you make your own path, most believe you should go down the path that has already been made. Mary uses repetition to get a point through the individual’s head. She states over and over again “You knew what you had to do” which makes people feel as if your whole life you know exactly how to succeed, but many choose to listen to others only to result in their failure. Life is going to be tough and quite the journey but she helps us realize that you ultimately determine your own destiny. If you want to listen to others and be a follower that is your own choice. However, eventually there needs to become a point where you find your inner self and use that to the best of your ability to succeed in life. Our society makes it very hard to listen to our own conscious. From the moment we begin to learn they teach us to praise others who have already become successful, whether it is celebrities or superheroes. We all at one point have thought of being someone else.

Mary Oliver also connects with her readers by talking in second person. She refers to each of us as “you” so it almost feels as if the poem is being directed right at us. By her using this method it really hits people harder because it changes the way your mind works when you read it. In this poem an excessive amount of “you” are placed which gets readers more intrigued in the writing. From the very beginning you can see this, she states, “One day you finally knew what you had to do”. The main thing everyone will notice about the writer is that she emotionally connects with each and every reader based on her word choice. Everyone can emotionally relate to this poem because everyone is living. 

You will always hear voices in your head that give you bad advice. Mary Oliver states “Though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice”. When she says this the reader immediately feels guilt because they can relate to bad decision’s being made from bad advice being taken in. The writer uses personification to make the readers imagination go wild. When she says “Though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations”, it is so vivid that you can picture exactly what is happening. There will be times in life where the bad overrides the good and the foundations will be torn apart. However, she repeats “Mend my life”. Every life can be repaired not matter what damages are done. It is all just determined by what you do to mend it. 

The syntax of this poem seems to be normal but has very simple sentences with yet complex meanings behind them. The sentences in this poem are quite similar to how life is. It changes from short and choppy, to long and flowing throughout the whole poem. It changes back and forth and stays rather constant. By doing this the writer makes the theme behind the poem so much more understandable. Our life is going to be choppy at times and fast at others. The fact that she can be so brilliant to do that is incredible. The reader appreciates writings so much more if they can realize how much more complex it is than it actually seems. Mary Oliver’s writing style is very straightforward in that it is the same throughout the whole piece. Her words flow so that the reader does not go through any confusion but rather both enjoys and understands the poem. When she compares a road of fallen branches and stones to the tough times you will experience in your life it allows the reader to think in depth. She states “little by little, you left their voices behind… and there was a new voice”. By saying this she boosts the reader up and almost gives them hope in their life. Each person will experience a since of happiness when reading that because they know that eventually everything will fall into place in their life. She illustrates that once you find your true self, your life will be limitless and you will save the only life that you can; which is your own.

Each individual person perceives words differently. The determining factor is one’s experiences in life. The word “falling” can be used in many different ways, however, everyone will have their own view on it. Those who are happy will think of it as “falling in love” and others will think of it as “falling apart”. It is hard to believe but that is why such simple words also tend to be so complex. Each and every individual who read the poem “The Journey” will have different thoughts on it. Not one person has the same life so it will affect each reader differently.