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. Determination is a necessity when embarking on a journey and the author, Mary Oliver, captures this idea through the use of different tenses, repetition, and a fluid rhythm. 

The first major literary device Mary Oliver uses to enhance the theme of determination is different tenses (plural or singular) of the word voice. First, Oliver uses the word voice in a plural tense 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). Next Mary Oliver uses the word voice in a singular tense. The author does this to symbolize all of the collective voices becoming one individual voice. This one voice is trying to change the reader into someone they do not want 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 as one collective voice, so the voices break apart individually for their last attempt to pull the reader back. Not only does this make it harder for the reader to leave, but the voices are now stretching the reader in every direction. “But little by little, - as [the reader leaves the] voices behind” they gradually start to have no effect, and with each step the reader takes, it makes the reader’s 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 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 the reader has to listen to is his/her own. 

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 embark on. This constant repetition of the word voice not only forces the readers to hear or recognize the voices that are around them, but makes the reader want to take action. By simply repeating the word voice, Mary Oliver slowly changed the meaning of the word. Originally the word voice meant something bad or an obstacle the reader had to jump over, but now it is viewed as the motivation or spark that forced the reader to start his/her journey. The nagging from the voices caused the readers to “One day” “[know]- what [they] had to do, and [begin]” on their long journey (Oliver 1-2). Mary Oliver continuously repeats the word voice to make the readers sick of reading the word just as much as they are sick of listening to them. This not only helps the readers understand what is going on, but causes them to hear nagging voices as well. Although the meaning of the word voices has changed when you look at it in a different literary element, the representation of the word has not. The word voice is supposed to represent society, parents, friends, family, one’s own internal voice etc. Mary Oliver uses the word voice instead of a specific person so that everyone who reads this poem can relate to it to their own life. The author also repeats the word voice multiple times to further develop the theme of determination. “Each” time a “voice [cries]”out it means that the reader is getting further and further into his/her journey (Oliver 11).

Lastly, Mary Oliver uses the fluid rhythm to impact the ongoing theme of determination. Mary Oliver purposely writes “though the voices around you- kept shouting- their bad advice- though the whole house- began to tremble- and you felt the old tug- at your ankles” very choppy and hard to read, to symbolize how the reader views their life before they try and get away from the voices (Oliver 3-9). 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 fluid 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 as well as the determination needed to start one’s journey. Mary Oliver uses all these elements to create more than just a poem with a message she also uses them to enhance the theme of the poem. All of these elements combined show one needs determination to overcome obstacles, embark on their journeys, and go through life.   
