This poetry collection was beautifully written with elegant imagery but failed to stimulate any strong feelings or thoughts in me. It feels very "style over substance".

It's the first collection of Mary Oliver's I've ever read so I don't know if this is the case of for all of her poetry or if it's just a problem with this collection. It really just didn't resonate with me.

For a self-described non-reader of poetry, I've read a fair amount of poetry this year. Blue Horses takes its name from the common subject of Franz Marc's paintings, and the poem by the same name is about the painter. Much of the poetry is about nature and the poet narrator's relationship to it, a common theme of Mary Oliver's poetry. I especially liked "The Hummingbirds" and "Such Silence", followed by "The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac" which was longer than the others and in reaction to the author's cancer diagnosis and thoughts on the transience of life and how we always want it to be a bit longer. It's not my favorite of Oliver's collections, but it's one that I think her fans would enjoy, full of clear writing and plenty of natural imagery. ( )

I don't want to be demure or respectable. / I was that way, asleep, for years. ( )

Such a beautiful way of seeing the world and a beautiful way of wording them. This poet has a deep and endless appreciation for the beauty in nature, love and God. An inspiring and uplifting read for when you are feeling lost and hopeless. ( )

This is my first Mary Oliver. What gorgeous poetry! Words perfect for harboring in the back of my memory and reflecting on. The kind of book that would be suited to taking on a hike or visiting a cabin in the forest, and the kind of book that makes me long to do those things. There were too many great poems to pick favorites. ( )