Translation: True Thoughts
About the Author: Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver, (1935-January 17, 2019), a contemporary American poet , famous for writing nature. Born on September 10, 1935 in Maple Ridge, Ohio. He began writing poetry at the age of 13. He graduated from Maple Ridge High School in 1952. Went to New York in 1953. And met the poet Norma Meeley and became good friends with the poet's sister. In 1962 Mary moved to London, where she worked at Mobile Cinemas Ltd and Shakespeare Theatre. After returning to the United States, Mary settled in Princeton. She has lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests for many years. Most of her creations focus on mountain nature, exploring the profound and secret connection between nature and the spiritual world. She is known as the "reclusive poet" of contemporary America. In terms of ideological pedigree, Oliver is deeply influenced by Whitman and Zen. His creative themes cover nature, faith, existence and other topics. His poems are short and meaningful, full of spirituality and profound philosophy. Oliver wasn't always appreciated by critics, but she remains one of America's most beloved poets, beloved by many and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. The New York Times called her "the best-selling poet of all time in the United States."
On January 17, 2019, Mary Oliver died at home due to lymphoma at the age of 83.
Oliver has an innate closeness to nature, and it is this closeness that shapes her poetry. According to her, the way in which one is exposed to the world as a child establishes patterns of meaning as one grows up. As a girl, Olive knew what she should do, and she spent her whole life doing it: writing poetry. She always felt and wrote her own way. For her, writing poetry is not a career, let alone a profession. It is life and happiness itself. What she loves most is walking, walking, and experiencing. She always carries a pen and notebook with her. When some fragmentary sentences appear, she writes them down. In her own words, "I just sharpened the pencil and waited."
In order to concentrate Immersed in the world of poetry, she carefully avoided any kind of interesting career and kept material needs to a minimum. Because "If you are willing to remain curious, then you'd better not pursue too much material enjoyment. This is a kind of responsibility, but it is also an infinite improvement towards an ideal life." The only thing she needs is "time alone, a A place to walk, to observe, and to bring the world to life in words. "Princeton provided her with the privacy she needed to write in an undisturbed environment.
For nearly 25 years, she lived like a hermit, writing unknown to others, rarely showing her works to others, and rarely publishing them. But for her, her loneliness is not a torture, but a kind of total immersion and a kind of joy. When she won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984 and received widespread attention, she did not change her lonely state, which enabled Oliver to successfully maintain her own style and character. She was undisturbed by fashion and refused to join any poetry circles. She believes that poetry circles are composed of many people, and joining one often means catering to everyone’s tastes, especially those of the organizer, which will inevitably damage a poet’s unique personality. At the same time, she was also willing to remain invisible in her own works. Not only did her poems rarely touch on her personal life, but even after the book was published and she won the award, she also avoided talking about her private life in necessary interviews. She believes that the work speaks for itself, "When you know more about the author, it is a harm to the work."
Oliver died of lymphoma at home on January 17, local time in the United States. 83 years old. She once wrote in her poem “When Death Comes,” “When it’s over, I want to say: My life/is a bride married to surprise.
”（When it's over, I want to say: all my life/I was a bride married to amazement.）
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