Thirst
by Mary Oliver
Another morning and I wake with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
I was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the
hour and the bell; grant me, in your
mercy, a little more time. Love for the
earth and love for you are having such a
long conversation in my heart. Who
knows what will finally happen or
where I will be sent, yet already I have
given a great many things away, expect-
ing to be told to pack nothing, except the
prayers which, with this thirst, I am
slowly learning.
the first stanza
Another morning and I wake with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
The stanza above has a proud tone because it can be seen in the word ‘given us such beautiful lessons’
which means is she appreciates a thing that is around her. illustrates that when we wake up and thirst
enters. There is always something we want, and we desire, which is somehow lost but we want to
remain whole again. Often we don't really know what something is. which we might be able to
accomplish but when we might sleep with satisfaction and wake up the next morning so we find
another thirst. The thirst remains. but there are things we should know that God will always provide the best for us, then on the next stanza the speaker felt that his day was very different from before she
said that he always thought of things that had passed so we can understand this stanza
I was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the
hour and the bell; grant me, in your
mercy, a little more time. Love for the
That the stanza above has a sad tone because we can see the word ‘sulked’. which means that the
question "why did she become a scholar too fast?.”
earth and love for you are having such a
long conversation in my heart. Who
knows what will finally happen or
where I will be sent, yet already I have
In the stanza is the speaker saying that she always converse in her heart so that there are many
questions and answers that she can conclude herself and we can conclude that every beautiful thing in
this world requires a subtle touch so that we can be grateful for its existence. So the tone from this
stanza is desperate because of the word ‘sent’ the word sent in the sentence refers to the speaker who
is hopeless to his life to the next so she said ‘Who knows what will finally happen or where I will be
sent,’ and she surrenders her self to what had happened to his life and self.
yet already I have
given a great many things away, expect-
ing to be told to pack nothing, except the
prayers which, with this thirst, I am
slowly learning.
The tone of that stanza is desperate because we can see from the word ‘expecting’ in the word
expecting which means that he hopes that if there isn't anything she can give and complete with words
‘to be told to pack nothing, except the prayers which, with this thirst, I am slowly learning.’ except the
prayer that he has prepared for what he has gotten. from that, he can learn well.
So, the dominant tone in this poem is desperate from the last stanza we can understand the speaker's
feeling desperate she was desperate does not mean he gave up with all his more precisely she should be able to accept and be grateful for the things she experienced and she decided. And because this
poem is more to despair.
Baca Juga: An analyze essay never lonely again
The one who speaks in that poem is ' I '. In a word “I” which means that the speaker is a woman
contained in the word ‘sulked’ because usually a woman will be easily upset but can not be expressed
so that it always raises questions that are out of the head and will find his own answers when his
mood improves. so the speaker in the poem is more specifically the woman who is desperate for the
things as like the word ‘Who knows what will finally happen or where I will be sent,’ she decides just
like her choosing a course in college based on the word ‘quick scholar’ that isn't within her ability and
in too much of a hurry ‘with this thirst, I am slowly learning.’ to make a decision.
The issue of the poem is personality disorder because the poem is describing someone who feels
chaotic in his decision so it always raises unreasonable questions as like stanza 4 line 1-5 ‘Who knows
what will finally happen or where I will be sent, yet already I have’ questions that some people may
have experienced but only in part. and this issue is often experienced by many people, especially us
seekers of knowledge ‘hunched over my books past the hour and the bell;’ in the word “books” and
‘bell’ which refers to speakers having problems in education. I think that everyone has experienced
this, either in terms of boring learning and etc, but this poem is interesting in my opinion that the
speaker feels thirsty in terms of education.
Thanks.