Mary Oliver’s poem “The Journey” is an intense up and down hill battle about people overcoming their demons. The poem shows how each reader has unique difficulties depending on who they are as an individual, while still covering the general struggles that everyone faces in life. Oliver uses the literary devices of tense, repetition, and flow/rhythm to show the determination one has to have to go through his/her journey. 

The first major literary device Mary Oliver uses to enhance the theme of determination is different tenses (plural or singular) of the word voice. Oliver uses the word voice in a plural tense first because she wants the readers to know that “the voices around you” that “[keep] shouting - their bad advice” out, are multiple people (Oliver 3-5). The author specifically makes the first use of this word plural because she wants to make the reader realize that the journey one is about to take is a long and hard journey, but to be successful one has to be determined. Next Mary Oliver uses the word voice in a singular tense because now that the voices are singular they each have their own view of who the reader should be. Instead of drawing the reader back collectively the voices are stretching the reader in every direction making it harder and harder to be the individual that he/she is determined to be. Mary Oliver then returns to using the word voice in a plural tense. The author does this because it symbolizes that the voices can no longer influence the reader individually, so they come back together as one collective voice for their last attempt to pull him/her back. “But little by little, - as [the reader leaves the] voices behind” they gradually start to have no effect on the reader, and with each step that the reader takes, it makes his/her voice grow stronger and the other voices grow fainter (Oliver 23-24). Oliver also makes the word voice plural because the only other time it was used this way was in the beginning when the reader had no determination to leave, making the reader think back to the beginning and realizing that he/she has beat the odds. Lastly Oliver uses the word voice is in a singular tense, but this time it is the readers own determined voice coming through. No longer does the reader have to listen to individual or collective voices, the only voice he/she has to listen to is his/her own. Oliver makes sure she uses the last voice in a singular tense because all the voices (people) that were holding the reader back are gone. Mary Oliver uses the word voice in different tenses to show how determined one must be to accomplish their goals no matter what other people say.  

Another literary device Oliver uses is repetition. Mary Oliver repeats the word voice four different times throughout the poem because it is the sole reason the poem exists. Without this word there would be no journey for the reader to take and nothing for the reader to overcome. The word voice is supposed to represent the people in one’s life that are holding the reader back from getting to where they want to go. It is completely up to the reader and their life experience in how they interpret the word voice, but it could be interpreted as society, parents, friends, family, etc. Mary Oliver uses the word voice instead of a specific person so that everyone who reads the poem can relate to it to their own life. The author also repeats the word voice multiple times to further develop the theme. “Each” time a “voice [cries]”out it means that the reader has overcome another obstacle and is getting further and further into his/her journey (Oliver 11). The constant repetition of the word voice is supposed to stand out so the reader knows that the journey they are about to encounter is going to be long and hard, but all one needs to have is determination and they will get to where they are wanting to go. 

Lastly, Mary Oliver uses the flow/rhythm of the poem to impact the ongoing theme of determination. Mary Oliver purposely writes the beginning of the poem very choppy and hard to read because that is how the reader views their life before they try and get away from the voices. It is also very slow when one reads the beginning symbolizing the reader’s life just dragging on and having no meaning. Further on down, the poem is in between being choppy and flowing. This shows that the reader is heading on his/her journey, but is very hesitant and scared. The reader is having a self-conflict wanting to continue the journey as well as wanting to turn around, “but [the reader] didn’t stop” (Oliver 12). Continuing on the journey brings one to the end of the poem where it is fast and flows more, symbolizing that the reader knows the path he/she wants to take. The reader is trying to get away from the voices as fast as he/she can because for the first time in a long time the reader has heard their own voice. The reader is “determined to do- the only thing [he/she can] do”, be the person he/she wants to be (Oliver 33-34). Mary Oliver alters the poems flow and rhythm to bring further meaning to the poems theme.  

Tense, repetition and flow/rhythm are used in the poem “The Journey” to show the determination one needs to have to overcome the voices (people) in one’s life. Mary Oliver uses all these elements to create more than just a poem with a message. She uses them to enhance the poems theme and help people who are struggling to get the courage and determination they need to take a stand in their own life and become the person they have always wanted to be.
