How I Annotate Poetry and my Annotation of a Mary Oliver Poem

For a couple of months, I have been going through a poetry book, poem by poem, and annotating.  I go through each poem line by line and use annotating so I further understand the poem and also to find a way to relate to it.  

I have been going through Mary Oliver New and Selected Poems, Volume One.  Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets, I enjoy how each poem is about nature, animals, or the beauty of the world and noticing it too, but also about a much deeper subject.  

There are a couple things to note about Mary Oliver's poetry before I show you how I personally annotate.  Each poem is free verse, written without rhyme or a regular meter.  And, as I said above, the poems have to do with nature, animals, or the world.  

And that's basically it, I love each poem I have read by Mary Oliver.  In a way, they surprise you, being called something like Golden Rod or Peonies but turn out to be about death, life, or another deeper subject.  And because of that, I think they are really good to annotate, to discover that deeper meaning. 

There are a couple rules I go by when annotating: I always use a pencil when writing in my books.  And in the event that I end up donating the book, the next owner can do with my writing as they please, honestly, though, I can't imagine ever getting rid of the poetry books I write in.  

Understand What is Happening

Start annotating by reading through the poem once or twice.  Do this to really understand what is going in the story or what the poem is talking about.  

Find the Theme

Go through stanza by stanza, and circle or underline words or phrases that stand out.  Look through the words or write them on the side of the page to determine the tone of the poem, try to find a similar tone beneath each word, and write it underneath them.  The theme might be just a couple words (or even one!).  Not every poem will have a very clear theme but try to find how the poem makes you feel and it might be different for everyone.  

Make Notes 

Make notes.  There is not much more I can say but to simply make notes.   I always go through each section and make notes on the side of the poem and I draw little arrows pointing to what I have a comment on.  Sometimes you might not find anything to make a comment on right away but I would urge you to search.  This is the most personalized section as you can make a note about basically anything.  Note the words and phrases that you think were intentional by the poet.  Write about phrases that remind you of something in your own life.  Sometimes I even re-write a certain word on the side.  There are really no rules here, if I can give you one rule it would be to write something because I think this step is really important to get a lot out of the poem and to find sections and lines that resonate with you.   

Overall feelings 

I don't always do this but most of the time I write a long paragraph at the end where I add essentially anything else I want.  I add what I like, didn't like, or more of my overall thoughts. 

Here is an image of the poem I annotated, I wasn't able to write very many notes on the page so I decided to add more after.  I'll add a copy without my markings in case you find it easier to read that way.    

Picking Blueberries, Austerlitz, New York,1957

You can see how I circled a bunch of words and re-wrote them on the side.  I did this to find a similarity in the words and wrote that underneath.    

Mary Oliver has a certain way with words, and I noticed it particularly in this poem.  That's one of the reasons I chose it when I flipped through the book.  Words like "wide" and "deep" from the sixth stanza stood out to me. I think they were intentional.  It gives a better impression, more meaning than more simple words, it throws one off but not exactly in a bad way.  

I love the way the descriptions of the deer, sleepy and amazed, rising out of rough weeds, listening and looking.  Almost like rising out of a tough time in life to look around and realize the beauty of the world all over again.  There seems to be a sense of enamorment towards the deer and the way it acts through the poem, the way it "lips up the sweetness," or the description "the flower of her amazement."  

She talks about this moment being so short but also so vast, a moment that she will remember forever, that has, "lasted to this day."  I think that's a very beautiful thing, to have a moment like this one, in nature or with an animal, that one can think to every time they are stuck in the rough weeds of the world.  So that they can rise out to listen and look once again.   

What did you think of this poem?  If you have a moment similar to this one that you will carry with you for the rest of your life, that has left you stunned, leave it below.  I would love to hear it.  

Thank you for reading!  

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