Mary Oliver's "The Journey" first appeared in her 1963 collection No Voyage and Other Poems. The poem is about the importance of taking charge of one's own life and leaving behind negative influences. Despite being one of Oliver's more personal poems, and including references to real events in Oliver's life, many readers will identity with its themes of self-reliance and integrity. This has helped to secure its place as one of the most popular poems from one of America's most popular poets.

• Read the full text of “The Journey”

• “The Journey” Summary

• “The Journey” Themes

  • 

    The Importance of Self-Reliance

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-36

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Journey”

  • Lines 1-5

    One day you ...
    ... bad advice —

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 6-9

    though the whole ...
    ... at your ankles.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 10-13

    "Mend my life!" ...
    ... had to do,

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 14-18

    though the wind ...
    ... was terrible.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 19-22

    It was already ...
    ... branches and stones.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 23-26

    But little by ...
    ... sheets of clouds,

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 27-29

    and there was ...
    ... as your own,

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 30-32

    that kept you ...
    ... into the world,

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 33-36

    determined to do ...
    ... you could save.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• “The Journey” Symbols

  • 

    The House

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-7: “though the whole house / began to tremble”
    • Lines 14-16: “though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations,”
  • 

    The Stars

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 25-26: “the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds,”
  • 

    The Road

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

• “The Journey” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “though the voices around you / kept shouting”
    • Lines 6-7: “though the whole house / began to tremble”
    • Lines 14-15: “though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers”
    • Lines 17-18: “though their melancholy / was terrible.”
    • Line 33: “determined to do”
    • Line 35: “determined to save”

  • Extended Metaphor

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-7: “though the whole house / began to tremble”
    • Lines 14-16: “though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations,”
    • Lines 19-26: “It was already late / enough, and a wild night, / and the road full of fallen / branches and stones. / But little by little, / as you left their voice behind, / the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds,”
    • Lines 31-32: “as you strode deeper and deeper / into the world,”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 14-16: “though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations,”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “knew / what”
    • Lines 3-4: “you / kept”
    • Lines 4-5: “shouting / their”
    • Lines 6-7: “house / began”
    • Lines 7-8: “tremble / and”
    • Lines 8-9: “tug / at”
    • Lines 14-15: “pried / with”
    • Lines 15-16: “fingers / at”
    • Lines 17-18: “melancholy / was”
    • Lines 19-20: “late / enough”
    • Lines 21-22: “fallen / branches”
    • Lines 25-26: “burn / through”
    • Lines 27-28: “voice / which”
    • Lines 28-29: “slowly / recognized”
    • Lines 30-31: “company / as”
    • Lines 31-32: “deeper / into”
    • Lines 33-34: “do / the”
    • Lines 35-36: “save / the”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “you finally knew / what you had to do”
    • Line 13: “You knew what you had to do”
    • Line 23: “little by little”
    • Line 31: “deeper and deeper”
    • Lines 35-36: “to save / the only life that you could save.”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “One,” “finally,” “knew”
    • Line 6: “whole,” “house”
    • Line 7: “to,” “tremble”
    • Line 8: “felt,” “tug”
    • Line 9: “at”
    • Line 15: “stiff,” “fingers”
    • Line 16: “foundations”
    • Line 17: “melancholy”
    • Line 18: “terrible”
    • Line 19: “already,” “late”
    • Line 20: “wild”
    • Line 21: “full,” “fallen”
    • Line 22: “stones”
    • Line 23: “little,” “little”
    • Line 24: “behind”
    • Line 25: “began,” “burn”
    • Line 30: “kept,” “company”
    • Line 31: “deeper,” “deeper”
    • Line 33: “determined,” “do”
    • Line 34: “do”
    • Line 35: “determined”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 6: “whole,” “house”
    • Line 15: “fingers”
    • Line 16: “foundations”
    • Line 21: “full,” “fallen”
    • Line 22: “branches”
    • Line 23: “But”
    • Line 24: “behind”
    • Line 25: “began,” “burn”
    • Line 30: “kept,” “company”
    • Line 31: “deeper,” “deeper”
    • Line 33: “determined,” “do”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “knew”
    • Line 2: “you,” “do”
    • Line 3: “you”
    • Line 10: “life”
    • Line 11: “cried”
    • Line 13: “knew,” “you,” “do”
    • Line 14: “wind”
    • Line 15: “with,” “its,” “stiff,” “fingers”
    • Line 20: “wild,” “night”
    • Line 28: “slowly”
    • Line 29: “own”
    • Line 31: “strode”

• “The Journey” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Mend
  • Pried
  • Melancholy
  • (Location in poem: Lines 10-11: “"Mend my life!" / each voice cried.”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Journey”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Journey” Speaker

• “The Journey” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Journey”

• More “The Journey” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a recording of Oliver reading "The Journey."

    • Oliver's Life and Work — Learn more about Oliver in this biography from the Poetry Foundation.

    • The Summer Day — Another of Oliver's best known poems, which similarly touches on the theme of taking charge of one's own life and happiness.

    • Mary Oliver and Amazement — An article by Rachel Syme about Oliver's legacy for the New Yorker.

    • Oliver's Obituary — Read Oliver's 2019 obituary in The Washington Post.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Mary Oliver

    • Good-Bye Fox

    • The Black Walnut Tree

    • The Summer Day

    • Wild Geese

Cite This Page