I don't want you just to sit down at the table. I don't wan… - Mary Oliver

" "
I don't want you just to sit down at the table.
I don't want you just to eat, and be content.
I want you to walk out into the fields
where the water is shining, and the rice has risen.
I want you to stand there, far from the white tablecloth.
I want you to fill your hands with the mud, like a blessing.

Mary Oliver

New and Selected Poems, Volume One · November 15, 2005 Verified in 1 source Sign up to see the complete provenance

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About Mary Oliver

Mary Jane Oliver (10 September 1935 – 17 January 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

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Also Known As

Alternative Names: Mary Jane Oliver

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Originators like Mary Oliver:

William Stafford Rabindranath Tagore Louise Glück Denise Levertov Annie Dillard

Additional quotes by Mary Oliver

Come with me into the woods where spring is
advancing, as it does, no matter what,
not being singular or particular, but one
of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.

He is exactly the poem I wanted to write.

What good does it do
to lie all day in the sun
loving what's easy?
It never grew easy,
but at least I grew peaceful:

I don't want you just to sit down at the table. I don't want you just to eat, and be content. I want you to walk out into the fields where the water … - Mary Oliver

About Mary Oliver

Also Known As

Additional quotes by Mary Oliver