Felicity by Mary Oliver

Felicity Reviews

• 
  Cathrine

  Oh reach into the night sky
  and hand me 5 stars
  so I can give you a 10 star review!
• 
  ☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣

  While a number of verses were questionably poetic, some gems are in here as well:
  
  Q:
  Things take the time they take. Don’t
  worry (c)
  Q:
  Some words will never leave God’s mouth,
  no matter how hard you listen. (c)
  Q:
  Do the trees speak back to the wind
  when the wind offers some invitational comment? (c)
  Q:
  All important ideas must include the trees,
  the mountains, and the rivers. (c)
  Q:
  The point is, you’re you, and that’s for keeps. (c)
  Q:
  Love is the one thing the heart craves
  and love is the one thing
  you can’t steal. (c)
  Q:
  “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” RUMI
  Q:
  When one is alone and lonely, the body
  gladly lingers in the wind or the rain,
  or splashes into the cold river, or
  pushes through the ice-crusted snow.
  
  Anything that touches.(c)
• 
  cameron

  accidentally reread this almost exactly a year later, i love rereading collections and my connection to it totally changing.
  ——-
  WOWWW I HAVE A NEW FAVORITE MARY OLIVER!!! well, second favorite as nothing can match the chemical change that occurred in my brain when i read blue horses for the first time but i digress. this is oliver’s collection of mainly love poems, and oh boy was it lovely. i will never tire reading her. favorites: moments, for tom shaw, and whistling swans
• 
  Jeannie

  I really enjoy Mary Oliver's poetry. She writes a lot about nature and animals. This book has poems about love. They are beautiful.
  
  I Don't Want to Lose
  
  I don't want to lose a single thread
  from the intricate brocade of this happiness.
  I want to remember everything.
  Which is why I'm lying awake, sleepy
  but not sleepy enough to give it up.
  Just now, a moment from a year ago:
  the early morning light, the deft, sweet
  gesture of your hand
  reaching for me.
• 
  ❀ annie ❀

  'but just now it is summer again
  and i am watching the lilies bow to each other,
  then slide on the wind and the tug of desire,
  close, close to one another'
  
  a beautiful, grounded and spiritual journey through life and love, as told by birds, by flowers, by trees. mary oliver reminds us to feel deeply, love truthfully and to appreciate the small miracles which take place around us every single day.
  
  this is really impactful poetry. a short collection which could easily take you hours upon hours to complete as you amble peacefully through oliver's words. highly recommended for the nature lovers and hopeless romantics among you <3
• 
  anna (½ of readsrainbow)

  gay love is just !!!
  
  I don’t want to lose a single thread / from the intricate brocade of this happiness. / I want to remember everything. / Which is why I am lying awake, sleepy / but not sleepy enough to give it up. / Just now, a moment from years ago: / the early morning light, the deft, sweet / gesture of your hand / reaching for me.
• 
  Alan

  Three beautiful sections (The Journey, Love, and Felicity). I knew I would love it as soon as I saw the Rumi quote, and Rumi kept coming back. You got me. So many favourites in this collection, to the point that I want to print them out and frame them. Also, let me quickly touch on this Rumi thing, because why not, might as well here: The Coleman Barks translations SUCK. I read the original Persian for the poems that Oliver mentioned, and they were honestly maybe about 10% of what Barks “translated”. What a travesty. Anyway, here are my favourites from this collection:
  
  - Don’t Worry
  - Nothing Is Too Small Not to Be Wondered About
  - Storage
  - For Tom Shaw S.S.J.E. (1945-2014)
  
  But my absolute favourite poem is Moments:
  
  

  There are moments that cry out to be fulfilled.
  Like, telling someone you love them.
  Or giving your money away, all of it.
  
  Your heart is beating, isn’t it?
  You’re not in chains, are you?
  
  There is nothing more pathetic than caution
  when headlong might save a life,
  even, possibly, your own.

  
  
  
• 
  tee

  re read #2: 17/03/2022
  third year straight of being reinvented by my favorite book... another summer, and once again i am drinking the sun!! thank you mary oliver i am the luckiest
  
  re read: 04/05/2021
  “everything that was broken has forgotten its brokenness. i live now in a sky-house, through every window the sun. also your presence. our touching, our stories. earthy and holy both. how can this be, but it is. every day has something in it whose name is Forever.”
  
  16/02/2020
  i don’t want to lose a single thread from the intricate brocade of the tenderness which is this book.
  favorites: moments, i am pleased to tell you, storage, late spring & a voice from i don't know where.
• 
  Jenny (Reading Envy)

  This isn't where I would start with Mary Oliver, and it pains me to give this collection only 3 stars. But they are a bit thin on connection and insight compared to her normal works.
  
  Here is my favorite:
  
  Moments
  
  There are moments that cry out to be fulfilled.
  Like, telling someone you love them.
  Or giving your money away, all of it.
  
  Your heart is beating, isn't it?
  You're not in chains, are you?
  
  There is nothing more pathetic than caution
  when headlong might save a life,
  even, possibly, your own.
• 
  Paula Mota

  3,5*
  #WITMonth
  
  A CAMINHO DO INDIAN RIVER
  
  Estou pronta para a Primavera, mas ela não chegou.
  Por enquanto.
  Ainda assim, dou o meu passeio, em busca de algum
  encantamento prematuro.
  É sobretudo atitude. Estou certa
  de que verei algo.
  Sigo pelo trilho, perscrutando
  todas as direções.
  Os mangues, como sempre, erguem-se na sua amada água,
  as suas novas folhas tão pequenas e delicadas
  e pálidas.
  E, vê! O modo como o sol nascente
  lhes bate,
  poderiam ser flores
  abrindo-se!
  
  Gosto da atitude de Mary Oliver nos belíssimos e puros poemas reunidos nesta colectânea, mas às vezes é demasiado luminosa e zen para o meu feitio como leitora de poesia.
  
  COMO TE AMO?
  
  Como te amo?
  Ah, desta forma e daquela.
  Ah, alegremente. Talvez
  possa elaborar por
  
  demonstração?
  Assim, e
  assim e
  
  sem mais palavras agora
• 
  Mahsa

  It seems you love this world very much.

  “Yes,” I said. “This beautiful world.”
  And you don’t mind the mind, that keeps you
  busy all the time with its dark and bright wonderings?
  “No, I’m quite used to it. Busy, busy,
  all the time.”
  And you don’t mind living with those questions,
  I mean the hard ones, that no one can answer?
  “Actually, they’re the most interesting.”
  And you have a person in your life whose hand
  you like to hold?
  “Yes, I do.”
  It must surely, then, be very happy down there
  in your heart.
  “Yes,” I said. “It is.”
  

  
  Beautiful, touching...
• 
  sophia

  at this point may i simply say that i love mary oliver for her way of viewing life and for making me feel seen and comforted
• 
  Jessaka

  
  “Do the trees speak?
  Do the trees speak back to the wind when
  the wind offers some invitational comment
  as some of us do?
  Do they also talk to the sun?
  I believe so. And if such belief need rest on evidence
  Let me just say, sometimes it’s an earful
  But there is more,
  if you can hear the trees in their easy hours,
  of course you can also hear them later crying out
  at the sawmill.”
  
  I can no longer clearly see the trees, but I can hear them rustle in the wind. I can smell them and feel their shade, and most of all I can feel the leaves, their texture, and their shape. Aand I can almost tell you by their shape what kind of trees they are. If only I try. I can also hug the trees and wish them a long life, free from all dangers for we must protect what has been lovingly given to us.
  
  
• 
  Ammara Abid

  Humility
  Poems arrive ready to begin.
  Poets are only the transportation.
  
  For Tom Shaw S.S.J.E. (1945–2014)
  Where has this cold come from?
  “It comes from the death of your friend.”
  Will I always, from now on, be this cold?
  “No, it will diminish. But always
  it will be with you.”
  What is the reason for it?
  “Wasn’t your friendship always as beautiful
  as a flame?”
• 
  Chaimaa

  Mary Oliver I love you, have a cupcake 🧁❤
• 
  Maria

  Things take the time they take. Don't
  worry.
  How many roads did St. Augustine follow
  before he became St. Augustine?

  
  That is how Mary Oliver starts The Journey, the first part of her latest book that goes by the name of Felicity. How brilliantly appropriate, wouldn't you say? Reading this first poem titled Don't Worry on the very first day of a new year. Makes you think about the urgency of the resolutions whispered before midnight...
  
  Mary Oliver's voice feels familiar, as if you have been listening to it since the moment you took your very first breath. Inner peace in the middle of the turmoil that is life, that's how I would describe her voice. There's a wiseness to it... Not self-proclaimed, though. There's respect, to each her/his own pace. She sees with her heart, her hopes and fears, and she then lays these portraits gently on the page with the help of words.
  

  Only if there are angels in your head will you ever, possibly, see one.

  
  If I were you, I would buy this book and read a poem a day. I believe it might be one of the ingredients of the recipe to happiness. And if you don't find it in her voice, do not give up. One will come that will resonate with you.
  

  And just like that, like a simple neighborhood event, a miracle is taking place.

  
  I honestly believe Felicity is the reassuring hand as you take a leap of faith, as you dive in head first into the immense universe that is life. Even through the darkest moments, it will guide you.
  

  Every day has something in it whose name is Forever.
• 
  Stephanie C

  Who isn't inspired by the simplistic yet mesmerizing words of this wonderful poet? And so I read this work while laying in a hammock in the Colorado mountains, surrounded by the wind gently whistling through the pine trees, the sun kissing my face, the gentle rippling of a waterfall, and the symphony of bird songs cascading my ears. And this one poem stared at me through the pages:
  
  "Do the Trees Speak"
  
  Do the trees speak back to the wind
  when the wind offers some invitational comment?
  As some of us do, do they also talk to the sun?
  I believe so, and if such belief need rest on
  evidence, let me just say, Sometimes it's
  an earful.
  
  But there's more.
  
  If you can hear the trees in their easy hours,
  of course you can hear them later,
  crying out at the sawmill.
  
  And I realized the irony of holding Mary Oliver's book made from trees, cut down for their paper, in order for her printed word to be read.
  
  Yet this poetry collection was not just about nature but about the beautiful love of her life. Her piercing language is breathtaking, and you will be so greatly impacted with poignancy and you will become acutely aware of the flutters of your heart as she touches your soul. Thank you, Mary Oliver, for continuing to bless us with your perfection.
• 
  Kimber

  I said to myself that I would read this book slowly but I couldn't.
  
  Something happened to me while reading this- it felt like a quickening in my soul.
• 
  Liam O'Leary

  
  YouTube Video Review Here
  These poems will make you feel safe and in love with the world.
  
  — (Original Thoughts) —
  This might be the best poetry collection I have ever read.
  
  Review TBC.
• 
  Eric

  i first read mary oliver a couple of months ago. i read her famous collection of essays, upstream, and loved it. the writing encapsulates this beautiful and raw interpretation of nature and animals and poetry and it was great.
  
  i hadn’t read her poetry at the time yet. and i’m so happy i did. at first, mary oliver’s poetry comes off as very bland. bland writing bland topics. but the more and more you read of hers, the more nuanced her writing get.
  
  as i progressed in my reading of the book, the poetry felt so much more deep, as if it was some form hypnotic experience; at first you’re in your own consciousness but by the end you’re on another planet.
  
  that’s how mary oliver feels like. she has this enchanting and beautiful writing about everything. it’s first confusing, but then it turns into this amazingly formed piece of writing.
  
  i didn’t like this as much as upstream, but it was still good. i definitely more of her poetry.
  
  all in all: poetry good. mary oliver good.
• 
  elio

  stunning?????? beautiful ???
  
  favs: "moments", "nothing is too small to be wondered about", "storage", "this morning", "how do i love you"
• 
  Ashley Olson

  Important:::: read the edit below this, after rereading.
  
  Note to self and others: read this when blindly in love. If read when harboring a momentary distaste for love, this book may cause you to think "tell me about love later, Mary Oliver because right now I don't entirely believe you."
  
  Edit::: read this again, but read it about yourself.
  It sometimes takes another try ❤️
• 
  Florencia

  Storage
  When I moved from one house to another
  there were many things I had no room
  for. What does one do? I rented a storage
  space. And filled it. Years passed.
  Occasionally I went there and looked in,
  but nothing happened, not a single
  twinge of the heart.
  As I grew older the things I cared
  about grew fewer, but were more
  important. So one day I undid the lock
  and called the trash man. He took
  everything.
  I felt like the little donkey when
  his burden is finally lifted. Things!
  Burn them, burn them! Make a beautiful
  fire! More room in your heart for love,
  for the trees! For the birds who own
  nothing—the reason they can fly.
  
  *
  
  A voice from I don’t know where
  It seems you love this world very much.
  “Yes”, I said. “This beautiful world.”
  
  And you don’t mind the mind, that keeps you
  busy all the time with its dark
  and bright wonderings?
  “No, I’m quite used to it. Busy, busy,
  all the time.”
  
  And you don’t mind living with those questions,
  I mean the hard ones, that no one can answer?
  “Actually, they’re the most interesting.”
  
  And you have a person in your life whose hand
  you like to hold?
  “Yes, I do.”
  
  It must surely, then, be very happy down there
  in your heart.
  “Yes,” I said. “It is.”
  
  June 27, 2021
• 
  David J

  This is the fourth collection of Mary Oliver poems I've read and I'm still completely in awe.
• 
  Irmak ☾

  “So, be slow if you must, but let
  the heart still play its true part.
  Love still as once you loved, deeply
  and without patience”
  
  Mary Oliver never disappoints.
• 
  Tara

  i either really vibed with the poems or not at all lol here are my faves
  the world i live in
  moments
  storage
  that tall distance
  i know someone
  i don't want to lose
  
  3.5
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Edita

  Your heart is beating, isn’t it?
  You’re not in chains, are you?
  *
  
  Will I always, from now on, be this cold?
  “No, it will diminish. But always
  it will be with you.”
  
  What is the reason for it?
  “Wasn’t your friendship always as beautiful
  as a flame?”
  *
  
  When did it happen?
  “It was a long time ago.”
  
  Where did it happen?
  “It was far away.”
  
  No, tell. Where did it happen?
  “In my heart.”
  
  What is your heart doing now?
  “Remembering. Remembering!”
• 
  Martha

  I so enjoyed this "fix" of Mary Oliver's poetry. It is spare but never sparse, and full of awe. This explores love. As I read my heart rate slowed and a great, thinking calm came over me.
• 
  H.A. Leuschel

  Always perfect when I want to read slowly!
  
  'Dont Worry
  
  Things take the time they take. Don't
  worry.
  How many roads did St.Augustine follow
  before he became St. Augustine?'
  
  
• 
  Ashley

  This is one of those books I never would have picked up on my own, so thanks, Read Harder, for doing your job. I do not read much poetry at all, and that is because some that I have read in the past has been pretentious as hell or impenetrable, or both, but even when it hasn't been, my favorite thing about reading is narrative, and most poetry doesn't have that, so. I'd just rather spend my reading time on novels, and the very occasional novella or short story.
  
  But this was a very good poetry collection. The opposite of pretentious. And far from being impenetrable, Oliver's writing feels welcoming. Maybe mostly because this is a book about happiness and love, but also because that seems just to be her style.
  
  Some of my favorites:
  
  
  
  For Tom Shaw S.S.J.E. (1945-2014)
  
  “Where has this cold come from?
  “It comes from the death of your friend.”
  
  Will I always, from now on, be this cold?
  “No, it will diminish. But always it will be with you.”
  
  What is the reason for it?
  “Wasn’t your friendship always as beautiful as a flame?”
  
  
  I did think, let's go about this slowly.
  This is important. This should take
  some really deep thought. We sould take
  small thoughtful steps.
  
  But, bless us, we didn't.
  
  
  Except for the body
  of someone you love,
  including all its expressions
  in privacy and in public,
  
  trees, I think,
  are the most beautiful
  forms on the earth.
  
  Though, admittedly,
  if this were a contest,
  the trees would come in
  an extremely distant second.
  
  Read Harder Challenge 2019: A collection of poetry published since 2014.