Tag Archives: "In Blackwater Woods"

The Green Knight’s Lesson: Love Life

By Robin Bates | Published: August 18, 2024

A Loren Eiseley passage on seeing his blood put me in mind of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where Gawain has a similar revelation.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "In Blackwater Woods", Barbara Kingsolver, death and dying, Loren Eiseley, Marie Borroff, Marie Popova, Mary Oliver, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Comments closed

the passing of all shining things

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2022

e.e. cummings has a dialogue with Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” in his own poem about autumn. I include Frost and Oliver in the reflection as well.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "In Blackwater Woods", "Ode to the West Wind", "the glory is fallen out of", Autumn, death, e. e. cummings, Mary Oliver, Percy Shelley | Comments closed

Feeding This Feverish Plot

By Robin Bates | Published: April 17, 2021

Mary Oliver’s “Fish” may be her interpretation of the post-Resurrection story of Jesus eating boiled fish.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Fish", "In Blackwater Woods", life and death, Mary Oliver, Resurrection | Comments closed

Lord, Thou’st Made the World Too Beautiful

By Robin Bates | Published: October 5, 2019

Millay’s gorgeous poem about autumn testifies to God’s hand in the world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "God's Grandeur", "In Blackwater Woods", Autumn, Beauty, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Mary Oliver | Comments closed

R.I.P. Mary Oliver, Bride of Amazement

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2019

Friday Mary Oliver, who died yesterday, may have been America’s favorite poet. I taught her Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive for over 20 years in a nature-focused Introduction to Literature class and so have seen up close her impact on readers. When death has entered my own life, I have often turned to Oliver’s poetry. For […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Blossom", "In Blackwater Woods", "In Pinewoods Crows and Owl", "The Fish", "University Hospital Boston", "When Death Comes", death and dying, Lost Children, Mary Oliver | Comments closed

The Fires and the Black River of Loss

By Robin Bates | Published: May 18, 2017

We recently held a memorial service for my dear friend and colleague Kate Chandler. I read from some of Kate’s eloquent nature writings and concluded with a Mary Oliver poem.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "In Blackwater Woods", death and dying, Kate Chandler, Mary Oliver | Comments closed

On Loving and Letting Go

By Robin Bates | Published: August 11, 2013

Mary Oliver’s “In Blackwater Woods” instructs us in how to live and how to die.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "In Blackwater Woods", death and dying, Mary Oliver | Comments closed