But, towards the end of the poem the mood and tone lighten, and the second person subject “you” strides “deeper and deeper / into the world” with determination. It is chaotic, with various symbols representing struggle, discontent, anger, and strife. When the poem begins the reader is introduced to “One day” in “your life”. The latter is one of the most poignant as it only makes itself known in the concluding lines of ‘The Journey’. The text includes themes related to the progression of time/life, strength, and renewal. The only thing they have on their mind at this point is to save their own life.ĭue to the deeply metaphorical nature of ‘The Journey,’ there are several themes a reader can investigate within Oliver’s poem. The listener moves away from the world they knew, and “deeper and deeper” into a new one. It took a moment to realize that this voice was “your own”. Once the old voice has dissipated, “you” were able to hear a new voice. Now there is no time to spare in moving into the new world. The listener had wasted enough of their life paying attention to the voices. The speaker states that it was “already late enough”. They continue to move forward and brave the uneven path that is set out before them. Voices follow this person, trying to get them to return to the past and focus on them instead. The speaker describes how this person reached a point in their life when they knew “what they had to do”. They are part of the story and are therefore asked to consider themselves within the same situation as the intended listener. The second person narration means that the reader is included in the poem. In the first lines of this piece the speaker addresses “you”. ‘ The Journey’ by Mary Oliver tells of the emotional and mental turmoil someone endured to end one unhealthy life and begin anew in a different world.
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