Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Daisies" by Mary Oliver presents a philosophical and contemplative view of knowledge and the natural world, urging the reader to recognize the joy of unknowing. In the poem, the speaker ponders the possibility of learning "everything / there is to learn," but encounters nature-symbolized by a mockingbird and daisies-as a counterpoint that values questions over answers.

The poem opens with an existential query: "It is possible, I suppose that sometime / we will learn everything / there is to learn." This line reflects humanity's age-old quest for comprehensive knowledge, capturing both its earnestness and its futility. The phrase "I suppose" denotes skepticism, suggesting that the possibility of total understanding might be a human conceit. This skepticism becomes more pronounced as the speaker interacts with elements of nature.

The mockingbird stands as an embodiment of the intrinsic value of questioning. The bird's song is "born of quest," and the poem asserts that the bird "must turn silent / were he suddenly assaulted with answers." Oliver implies that the process of seeking is more crucial than the possession of knowledge itself. This interpretation invites the reader to question not only what we know but also why and how we know it.

Next, the poem directs our attention to daisies at the speaker's feet. The speaker calls the centers of these flowers "the small suns of their center piece, their-if you don't / mind my saying so-their hearts." This anthropomorphism likens the flowers to human beings, each possessing a heart or center. Yet, the speaker also acknowledges the limits of their understanding by admitting, "What do I know?" This self-questioning magnifies the theme of unknowing and extends it from the external world to the inner world.

Towards the end, the poem moves to a more comforting message. The speaker observes, "it is heaven itself to take what is given, / to see what is plain; what the sun lights up willingly." The idea of acceptance-as opposed to relentless inquiry-surfaces here as a kind of wisdom. This is reinforced by the speaker's action, or rather inaction, when they reach down "not to pick but merely to touch" the daisies, acknowledging "the suitability of the field for the daisies, and the / daisies for the field."

In its entirety, "Daisies" speaks to the human experience of grappling with knowledge and the limits of understanding. By weaving together human questioning and the natural world's acceptance of ambiguity, Oliver crafts a landscape where not knowing is not a lack, but a form of enrichment. The poem suggests that the questions we carry with us-reflected back by the mockingbird's song or the sunlit daisies-make our existence more vivid, our perceptions sharper, and our engagement with the world infinitely richer.

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