The Journey by Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
through the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
through the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
through the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations--
through their melancholy
was terrible.
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 voices behind,
the starts began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.
This poem was read to the graduates at Bryn Mawr College's graduation on May 16, 2004 by Haverford College president, Tom Tritton. Considering the demographic of the graduates, this poem gave a fitting closure to the ceremony. The poem seemed so beautiful to me at the time. My graduation was from hell where everything just went wrong and this poem lifted my whole weekend on its head. While part of me screamed "NO, no, no" to the words, other side told me to embrace it. I wiped the tears off my face so no one would see it and marched out of the tent to the bagpipe music.
what you had to do, and began,
through the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
through the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
through the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations--
through their melancholy
was terrible.
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 voices behind,
the starts began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.
This poem was read to the graduates at Bryn Mawr College's graduation on May 16, 2004 by Haverford College president, Tom Tritton. Considering the demographic of the graduates, this poem gave a fitting closure to the ceremony. The poem seemed so beautiful to me at the time. My graduation was from hell where everything just went wrong and this poem lifted my whole weekend on its head. While part of me screamed "NO, no, no" to the words, other side told me to embrace it. I wiped the tears off my face so no one would see it and marched out of the tent to the bagpipe music.