Coming down
out of the freezing sky
with its depths of light,
like an angel,
or a buddha with wings,
it was beautiful
and accurate
-from ‘White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field’
Mary Oliver’s Owls and Other Fantasies brings together twenty-six of the Pulitzer Prize-winner’s poems about the birds that played such an important role in her life. Here are hawks, hummingbirds, and herons; kingfishers, catbirds, and crows; swans, swallows, and the snowy owl, among others.
Unique to this collection are two beautifully crafted essays: ‘Owls,’ selected for the Best American Essays series, and ‘Bird,’ an essay of resilience that takes its place among the classics of the genre.
In the words of the poet Stanley Kunitz, ‘Mary Oliver’s poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing. Her special gift is to connect us with our sources in the natural world, its beauties and terrors and mysteries and consolations.’
For anyone who values poetry and essays, for anyone who cares about birds, Owls and Other Fantasies will be a treasured gift; for those who love both, it will be essential reading.
