4 Life-Changing Lessons from Mary Oliver's Most Famous Poem
Life is beautiful and transitory; live with intention and attention
You’ve probably heard and even contemplated the American poet Mary Oliver’s most famous two lines many times:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
But what about the rest of Oliver’s poem, “The Summer Day?” I find the other lines of this poem equally remarkable and replete with potentially life-altering messages.
Let’s take a look.
1. Ask Big Questions
Mary Oliver starts “The Summer Day” by asking profound questions:
“Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?”
Oliver doesn’t seek definitive answers. Instead, she uses these questions to marvel at life's miraculous, sublime, and inconceivable mystery.
In the same way, you too can ask big, unanswerable questions, especially when you find yourself lost in the details of life.
Let the big questions transport you from the petty, ordinary, and mundane into the magical, transcendent, and divine. Let them break down your ordinary mind and take you to that place between thoughts where only awareness and knowing exist.
This is where you can experience life directly in all its magnificence — the joys and the sorrows.
2. Pay Attention
Next, Oliver describes the way she pays close attention on this summer day:
“…this grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.”
Oliver finds so much delight in the movements of a tiny grasshopper.
Do you lose yourself in thoughts of the past or imagining the future? How much of your life do you miss by not being present in the here and now?
Although all humans possess the ability to be mindful, we rarely are. Modern life has turned us into multi-tasking heads.
But you can turn that around by following Oliver’s example. Learn to pay attention. You’ll enjoy your life much more! You’ll make fewer mistakes, too!
At first, it may feel hard to be mindful. But it gets easier with practice.
You can use the timer on your watch or another device to remind yourself to pause and pay attention once every hour.
Let daily events, such as meals, remind you to stop and be present for a moment.
Stick a Post-it note to your mirror, computer, or dashboard that reads, “Pause. Be present.”
Presence is your natural birthright.
“I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.”
3. Life Is Fragile
Oliver suddenly shifts course to remind us that life is fragile.
“Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?”
Most of us ignore death until someone we know dies. We’re shocked when we hear the news. Even when we know someone is terminally ill, we may still be taken by surprise when their end occurs. Often, we feel this death should never have happened.
But we all die. We don’t know how or when death will take us. It could be sooner than we think, which makes the lessons in Oliver’s poem all the more urgent, poignant, and relevant.
Death can be a powerful reminder to get and keep our priorities straight, so don’t banish it to the hidden corners of your mind.
Instead of ignoring death, wouldn’t it be wiser to reflect on the fragility of life each day? It doesn’t have to be a morbid exercise. Instead, it can lead you to celebrate each moment.
4. Be Intentional
Oliver concludes “The Summer Day” by inviting us to live with intention.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
She brings together all the threads of her poem in this conclusion. Life is beautiful and transitory. Therefore, shouldn’t we cherish each moment with attention and intention?
What do you think?
Have you read the entirety of Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day” before this? What especially speaks to you in her poem? I would love to hear.
For more inspiration, listen to Krista Tippett’s On Being 2015 audio interview with Mary Oliver.
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oh, I so love Mary Oliver, and your essay is beautiful tribute to her, Sandra! As one who has a service heart and a deep connection with nature, I really enjoyed all of this, the wonderment, appreciation, engagement with nature, and the question of what do you want to do with your wild and precious life. I have had many sublime times with grasshoppers, praying mantis, and other winged ones...thank you!
One of my favorites. Krista Tippett on NPR's 'On Being' interviewed Mary Oliver shortly before her death. It is a beautiful interview and Krista has a recording of her 12 year old daughter reciting the poem as part of a class assignment. Oliver was truly touched by it.