THIS CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELED

In this sequel to 2023's "Quiet Ecstasy" course, we'll take a deeper dive into this popular Pulitzer poet. When not teaching or traveling, Mary Oliver spent quality time alone, contemplating nature and her place in it. She possessed a remarkable sensibility, at once compassionate and mystical. Even when alluding to personal suffering and moral darkness, her vision of life emanated from her unique experience of ecstasy, distinguishing her work from much contemporary lyric poetry. We'll read her poems aloud and discuss what sets her apart as an ecstatic poet.

Moderator: Cecil Albright has led 11 poetry discussion classes for OLLI focused around various aspects of living the second half of life, as well as individual treatments of the poetry of Anne Sexton, Billy Collins, Edna St Vincent Millay, Mary Oliver, and Rumi.