Honoring Companionship

Dog Songs by Mary Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reading Dog Songs, I get the impression Mary Oliver is not just a dog lover, but a person who loves life with dogs as companions. This volume, many of the poems of which were culled from previous collections, is not only a fine tribute to lives of dogs, but is a wonderful portrait of a person who has learned to live well with them.

Oliver writes accessible poems which do not have to rely on cliché or the ordinary. These poems honor not only the dogs she has lived with, but also the wonder of a life lived in the tension between solitude and companionship.

I would like to rate this book a little higher. But there are some pieces with lines that in need polish or pruning. However I think this is likely to bother very few people other than myself. Dog Songs is an otherwise a earthy and enjoyable read.

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