At first, I had a pretty tough time with this poem and understanding it, mainly because of the ambiguity of some of Mary Oliver's lines in the poem. Some of the lines that were confusing were lines such as:
"...and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now."
Mainly the line break throws me off. Why didn't the poet just move the other "is" down to the next stanza? What is she trying to communicate by using this technique, and secondly, what is she even saying? Why is the pond nameless now? Is she talking about the mortality of life, and once it dies, it loses its name? That is what I extracted from those stanzas.
I think Mary Oliver is trying to write about death and mortality in this poe and how you have to enjoy what life is today and hold on to it, because it won't always stick around. Like she specifically says to do: to love what is mortal, and then hold on to it as if your life depends on it, and then be able to let it go when the time comes. So like in anything in life, nothing lasts forever, but you have to take it for everything it's worth while it;s still around and before you have to let it go.
I know. I get stuck on things like this. If she moved it, she must have a reason, right? Why can't I figure it out? ;) Sometimes I think just the question makes us slow down and think about the words, but I don't know!
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