Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Beside the Waterfall," Mary Oliver presents a stark and vivid scene that juxtaposes beauty and brutality, capturing the raw and indifferent aspects of nature. Through her masterful use of imagery and nuanced characterization, Oliver explores themes of mortality, the natural order, and the coexistence of life and death.

The poem opens at dawn, a time traditionally associated with renewal and the promise of a new day. However, Oliver subverts this expectation by introducing a scene of death. Winston, the "big dog" with a name that humanizes him, discovers a fawn "scarcely larger than a rabbit" beside the "white waterfall." The use of color in "white waterfall" evokes purity and serenity, contrasting sharply with the grim reality of the fawn's lifeless body.

Winston's actions are described with clinical precision: he "looked over the / delicate, spotted body and then deftly tackled / the beautiful flower-like head, / breaking it and breaking it off and swallowing it." The imagery here is both beautiful and gruesome. The fawn's head, compared to a flower, emphasizes its innocence and fragility, while Winston's act of breaking and consuming it underscores the harshness of nature. This duality reflects the poem's central tension between the aesthetics of the natural world and its often ruthless reality.

The increasing light as "it was growing lighter" while this scene unfolds symbolizes the indifferent passage of time and the inevitability of nature's cycles. The poem's narrator, who calls out to Winston, observes his reaction: "Winston merely looked up. / Grizzled around the chin / and with kind eyes, he, too, if you're willing, had a face / like a flower." This comparison of Winston's face to a flower highlights the complex interplay of tenderness and savagery in nature. Winston, despite his violent act, possesses a gentle demeanor, reminding us that nature's predators are not evil but simply fulfilling their roles within the ecosystem.

The culmination of the poem comes with the rising sun, described as the "red sun, which had been rising all the while anyway, broke / clear of the trees and dropped its wild, / clawed light over everything." The sun, a universal symbol of life and energy, is here depicted with "wild" and "clawed" light, reinforcing the theme of nature's duality. The use of "clawed" suggests that even the sun, a life-giving force, has a ferocious aspect, capable of illuminating both beauty and brutality.

Oliver's use of free verse and enjambment enhances the poem's natural flow, mirroring the uninterrupted and unfeeling progression of time and nature. The lack of a fixed rhyme scheme or meter allows the poem to move fluidly, much like the waterfall beside which the events unfold.

In conclusion, "Beside the Waterfall" by Mary Oliver is a powerful exploration of the inherent dualities in nature. Through her vivid imagery and careful characterization of Winston, Oliver presents a scene that is both beautiful and brutal, reflecting the complex reality of life and death. The poem invites readers to confront the often uncomfortable truths of the natural world, recognizing that beauty and savagery are inextricably linked. Oliver's ability to capture this tension in such a succinct and evocative manner speaks to her skill as a poet and her deep understanding of the natural world.

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