Mary Oliver is a renowned American poet who has achieved and been immensely awarded on

account of her works. Oliver’s poetry finds its foundation in the natural world of Ohio, where she

grew up and where she gets the majority of her inspiration. Mary Oliver uses vivid imagery and

various figures of speech to bring to life the world of nature in her poems. Many of which

explore the impulse and desire associated with the feelings of eroticism. Eroticism is known as

the feeling of sexual excitement, if something is said to be sexually exciting in any sense it is

said to be erotic. Many different things can be considered elements of Eroticism. Things that

cause individuals to feel sexually aroused or excited can include various senses from sight,

touch, smell to sounds and various activities or actions and may be considered erotic. Over this

semester a number of the poems by Mary Oliver that we have looked at and discussed as a class

are focused around the feelings and senses of eroticism. Three of the works in specific which

may account for the most blatantly obvious examples of poems with erotic and sexual tones are

“Postcard from Flamingo”, “An Old Whorehouse” and “The Snakes” – each of these using

multiple elements and literary figures of speech to provide a feel of sexual excitement. Oliver’s

use of titles, word choice, metaphoric phrases, and other arousing aspects provide these poems in

particular with an overall feel of Eroticism.

In the first of these poems “Postcard from Flamingo” the author’s writing exudes feelings of

eroticism and sensuality. Oliver begins to explore these feelings of Eroticism from the very

beginning of her poem by describing the movement of palm trees in Flamingo at nighttime, but

does so in a kind of sexual manner, “At midnight, in Flamingo the dark palms are clicking in the

wind, an unabashed autoeroticism”. She describes this act as being unabashed meaning it is

preformed boldly and unapologetically creating a sense of excitement and arousal. These

feelings of excitement or arousal tend to be sexual as she describes the trees thrashing in the

wind as also being autoerotic, meaning that the trees themselves seem as though they are getting

some sort of sexual satisfaction internally. From here she begins to discuss sin, which is

something that is commonly associated with thoughts or acts of sexual nature – then moves on to

describe a flock of birds frolicking within a body of water. “This afternoon, in the velvet waters,

hundreds of white birds! What a holy and sensual splashing”, Oliver illustrates the splashing

itself as being “sensual” meaning that it appears to be sexually suggestive. The image of the

birds themselves could even be taken as a kind of sexual referencing, the “white” birds are said

to make a “holy and sensual” splashing – almost giving the birds virgin-like attributes. In the

next lines Oliver implies a relatively sexual word choice in describing the sea as “lashing” the

islands – a word that is commonly referred to in an erotic sense before closing the poem with a

literary figure that implies both a sexual excitement and a blending of feelings. “If you were

here, if I could touch you, my hands would begin to sing”, the most easily determined element

associated with feelings of arousal or excitement is to touch or be touched by another (usually

who one finds attractive) and Oliver speaks of doing so in this line. She also implies a form of

figurative language known as Synesthesia when she writes “my hands would begin to sing”, this

is a mixture of different feelings used to perceive one specific sense in terms of another.

Through the use of certain language and literary devices the reader is able to understand and

experience the elements which surround eroticism within Oliver’s piece, “Postcard from

Flamingo”.

Mary Oliver’s “An Old Whorehouse”, is a poem which is written primarily around the concept

of sexual desire or excitement. This makes it easily identifiable as an erotic piece, as the very

title of the poem itself suggests the piece is focused on the idea of an old, worn-down building

where prostitution would have taken place years before. Although Oliver does not exactly use

many sexually suggestive words in this poem as she does in other pieces with tones of Eroticism,

the entire piece itself is based around the premises of the naughtiness and excitement of sex.

Through this poem Oliver tells the reader of a time when herself and her friend – both fourteen

years old made their way into the old, dilapidated whorehouse. She describes the place as being

quite worn and beaten, out of business for a long time. But even though time has had no

sympathy for the once fabulous business, its beauty and glamour cannot be hidden from the

young girls’ minds. “But we were fourteen, and no way dust could hide the expected glamour

from us”, they can both clearly see that the whorehouse is not what it once was but to them it still

holds its luster. The girls don’t see the building for what it really is, old, dirty, dark, and rotted.

With all of the old staff and cliental either greatly aged or even dead, everything about the

whorehouse has decayed over time. Oliver closes the poem with a metaphor which itself has a

sexual origin, “It would be years before we’d learn how effortlessly sin blooms, then softens, like

any bed of flowers”. “Sin” is something which people very commonly associate with thoughts or

ideals of sexual nature. Some even see the act of sex as being “sinful” be it not with a husband or

wife – much like what went on in the whorehouse regularly. This “sinful” sex though, as every

other aspect of the old whorehouse has withered away and disappeared with time, though the

young girls themselves do not see this. They are too caught up in the past allure of what the

whorehouse once was, little do they know that the sin, glamour, and beauty that once resided

inside has but long since disappeared.

Finally, in the poem “The Snakes” there is another representation of sexual arousal or excitement

within a work itself – though it may not be as easily distinguishable as the Eroticism present

within the other two poems. In this piece Oliver emphasizes the erotic feelings to the reader

through describing two black snakes, presumably mates who are traveling together in a kind of

unison of sexual nature. “I once saw two snakes, northern racers, hurrying through the woods,

their bodies like two black whips lifting and dashing forward; in perfect concert”, Oliver’s word

choice in the poem’s opening lines begin already to have suggestive aspects as she describes the

two snakes as appearing like “black whips” dashing their way along together. A whip is an

object usually characterized with sexual intentions or meaning, and the dashing of these whips is

described as being in “perfect concert” which again is wording of sexual nature. The very

movements of the snakes seeming to be arousing or sexual to the reader, as the two travel along

together through various forms of landscape. Oliver continues to write of the sensual travel of the

serpents as they follow along their path and continues to use “attractive” word choice such as

referring to the snake bellies as “sleek”, meaning they appear smooth, graceful, and well-kept –

all sexually desirable features. Near the end of the poem, three similes occur one after another to

provide even more sexuality to the traveling animals. “Like a matched team, like a dance, like a

love affair”, Oliver illustrates the movements made by the mates to appear as a matched team, or

a dance – both of which have sexually exciting characteristics. Lastly, she compares the two

snakes to a love affair ending the poem on an entirely Erotic note. Although the traveling snakes

themselves may not be sexually exciting the locomotion taking place through their journey itself

appears to be sexually appealing.

Mary Oliver is an American poet, who has sometimes been known to include strong elements of

sexuality and eroticism within her writing. Eroticism when presented within literature is

characterized through feelings of sexual excitement or arousal which are brought about by the

different word choice, literary devices, and even the over-all tone of the work itself. Many of the

poems written by Oliver that were studied over the course of this semester

have explored the elements of sexuality within literature. From the selection of works presented

by Oliver some of the poems have much more obvious and effective tones of sexuality than

others. Three of these works in particular are “Postcard from Flamingo”, “An Old Whorehouse”

and “The Snakes”. Although not each of these poems express their erotic natures in the exact

same way, the choice of using specific words is usually a key component in providing the reader

with the sexual-feel. In “Postcard from Flamingo”, Oliver illustrates the many different beautiful

natural sceneries of Flamingo and the creatures that inhabit the area – but does so in a sexual

manner. She is able to do this with her choice of exciting and questionably sexual words and her

use of different figures of speech. The poem “An Old Whorehouse” is a little different where it is

much more easily identified as being erotic, the title of the piece itself is enough. The basis of the

poem is written around the childhood experience of finding an old, worn building where

prostitution once took place. The looming aura or sexual presence is factor throughout the entire

poem – though Oliver does not use “sexy” or suggestive wording or figures of speech in this

poem like the last. In her poem “The Snakes”, Mary Oliver again provides the reader with the

experience of Eroticism. Although animals aren’t usually regarded as sensual or sexually

appealing – Oliver’s description of the serpents and their travels within the poem puts forth an

arousing tone. Primarily when someone thinks of the words “erotic” or “sexual” these are not

terms which are usually associated with literary works such as poems. People normally associate

those things with attractive members of the opposite sex or whatever their personal preference

may be, but in truth almost anything can be considered to exhibit elements of Eroticism. With the

right choice of description almost anything can become sexually appealing – from animals,

objects, people, to activities or thoughts. Things can also be considered appealing from different

perspectives – they are capable of appealing to sight, sound, touch, taste, or even thought.