Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Two Kinds of Deliverance" by Mary Oliver presents an intricate juxtaposition between the cyclical, uncontrollable aspects of nature and the ambiguous impact of human history on native communities. The poem unfolds in three distinct parts, each offering a different facet of the complex web that is 'deliverance'-a concept traditionally associated with liberation or rescue.

In the first part, the poem narrates the return of the geese to a "black pond," signaling the arrival of spring. The geese are bearers of renewal; their reappearance marks a natural event that the speaker witnesses with awe but admits, "I don't know how." This line encapsulates the human tendency to marvel at nature's wonders without understanding the intricate mechanisms behind them. It resonates with the earlier line, "A muskrat / swimming in the twilight saw them and hurried / to the secret lodges to tell everyone / spring had come." The muskrat's reaction humanizes it, suggesting a universal sense of wonder and relief at spring's arrival-a deliverance from winter.

The second part of the poem presents a stark contrast to the first, bringing into focus an "old man in a headdress of feathers," presumably of indigenous descent, performing a dance "in a kind of surly rapture." The trees "begin to mutter and suck up their long roots," advancing until they press against "the schoolhouse windows." This imagery suggests a haunting historical memory, an irruption of the indigenous past into the present landscape. The old man dances "for his life," implying a different kind of deliverance-that of cultural survival amidst a backdrop of historical erasure and dispossession.

The third section synthesizes the elements from the previous sections, tying them to the idea of deliverance in the context of both nature and human history. The speaker reflects on their ignorance but also their awe of the spring: "when spring / flows over the starting point I'll think I'm going to / drown in the shimmering miles of it and then / one or two birds will fly me over / the threshold." This seems to offer personal deliverance, a spiritual crossing into a new phase or understanding.

However, the poem closes with a return to the "pain / of others," noting that while it "tries to be / abstract," it flares up like fire, "still blistering: the wrinkled face / of an old Chippewa / smiling, hating us, / dancing for his life." This line acknowledges that personal and natural deliverance does not negate the existence of historical trauma. The old Chippewa's dance serves as a harsh reminder of an alternative experience of deliverance-one riddled with pain, resentment, and survival.

In "Two Kinds of Deliverance," Oliver explores how the concept of deliverance varies depending on context. For nature, it's cyclical and constant; for the individual, it's a transcendental threshold; but for historically marginalized communities, it's a complicated amalgamation of cultural survival and inherited pain. The poem asks the reader to hold these complexities in mind, offering no easy resolutions but instead a nuanced contemplation of what 'deliverance' can mean.

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