Crossing The Swamp By Mary Oliver

There is not a single person that does not struggle through life. This is a theme that is clearly visible in Mary Oliver’s poem “Crossing the Swamp”. Here is a poem about a person’s struggle through life and how they grow by overcoming their issues. Oliver clearly demonstrates this with the tone, the structure, and the metaphors inside the poem. First of all, the tone shifts from negative to positive in the poem. In the first stanzas Oliver uses words like, “pathless”, “seamless” and “dark burred” to initiate a negative tone at the beginning of the poem. At the stanzas near the end of the poem the speaker says more positive words creating a mood shift in her poem. For example when the speaker says, “Take root, / sprout, branch out, bud” (Line 33-34) it makes the poem seem way brighter and happy compared to the beginning. Furthermore when reading the poem from start to finish a spirited tone becomes more vivid. It becomes a spirited tone, because in the poem the speaker is struggling through life and she is using her courage and willpower to succeed in life. …show more content…
The arrangement of words in “Crossing the Swamp” creates a diagonal enjambment showing the speakers struggle. In most cases a poem would follow a normal standard structure starting up and then going straight down. Certain places in the poem have a more significant meaning by being placed alone on a line. For instance “palace of leaves” (Line 36) is all by itself making the ending seem very important and full of life. Another example would be “cosmos, the center” (Line 3), by leaving this line by itself it brings an empty feeling of darkness in space. With these important placements the poem would be noticeably different and would have a particular