Rosalie Weiss- Week 1- “The Hermit Crab” by Mary Oliver
The Hermit Crab is a poem by Mary Oliver in which she reflects on an encounter she had with a hermit crab and the observations she made while watching it find a new home.
I believe that the ocean, which Oliver describes as always “shouting and hissing toward the future,” every wave “leaving the shore littered” with “ornaments of death,” is a symbol for time. (lines 19-25) The hermit crab fights against the ocean by making a home out of the old shells it had discarded. This “rebellion” is also a way of fighting against time, “connecting everything, the past to the future.” (lines 29-33) I interpret this part of the poem to be a metaphor for remembering and learning from our past, as by holding on to our memories, we are effectively rebelling against time and its efforts to wash the past away.
In the first stanza of poem, Oliver writes, “Once I looked inside the darkness of a shell folded like a pastry and there was a fancy face.” (lines 1-4) Upon reading this, I thought, “what a fun sentence,” but after thinking more about it, I realized that it teaches the equally fun lesson that you can find good in the bad if you look for it. In short, every cloud has a silver lining, or should I say, in every darkness of a shell folded like a pastry, a fancy face can be found.
The wording in this poem is brilliant and makes reading it so fun and interesting. I love this poem and am excited to continue reading Oliver’s work.
“Poem-Mary Oliver-The Hermit Crab.” Metta Refuge, 17 Sept. 2010, https://mettarefuge.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/poem-mary-oliver-the-hermit-crab/.
This seems like a very interesting poem. I find the section about remembering and learning from the past very thoughtful. I believe in the importance of learning from the past and at any opportunity, so that stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this poem. As somebody who really cares about the ocean, I enjoyed the connections and comparisons that were made here. I think we should all look for the deeper meanings in life, as suggested by the poem.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Rosalie’s explanation of the poem. I also chose Mary Oliver to be my Poet for this assignment and based on what I read I absolutely love her poetry. She has such brilliant ways of writing and making her point come out, but through ideas that you wouldn’t think would match the ideas that lie behind them.
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