The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

Imagining oneself on a warm, lazy summer day, one may fail to notice the nature around them as the sun blares down onto their skin. Through details of a summer day, Mary Oliver challenges the reader to think about the smaller things in nature as she focuses in on a grasshopper. Oliver seems to be saying that being able to take notice, pay attention and appreciate the smallest of creatures is very similar to saying a prayer as she says, "I don't know exactly what a prayer is" as she described the grasshopper. Oliver seems to be asking her readers to spend a lifetime or even a day being able to appreciate and understand nature. She offers a profound, yet delicate example of life and illustrates it as a precious gift. The use of the grasshopper is random, yet emphasizes beauty and contribution to life. Also, I had noticed that there were no rhymes in the poem, possibly symbolizing the unpredictable pattern of life as we see it. Through the lines, "Who made the world?" and "Tell me, what else should I have done," Oliver seems to be symbolizing the journey through life from birth to death. Through the use of the grasshopper and details of life, Mary allows the reader to see that life is being taken for granted and that one must stop and look at nature around them and appreciate what God has given us.