"Great Bumble. Sleek Slicer." As the vented out words of Mary Oliver roll down the page the reader gets a feeling of heated hatred and bitterness. Although the poem "In the Pinewoods, Crows and Owls" can be interpreted in many ways I saw the poem as being about power. The crows in her poem represent the people and the owl represents the figure of power.
It is clear to a reader with this interpretation to see that the owl is in control. Oliver refers to the owl as the "Pine God" and the "Prince of dark days" obviously stating the owl's status as a more powerful creature. One way to see the crows as a representation of the people would be to closely examine the line, "Flying against shut doors". The crows have less power than the owl, and are being oppressed. The crows are being threatened with fear and they despise the owl in every way, much like the people of a country with a dictatorial ruler. Oliver's perspective on power and the feeling of oppression are accurately explained. for instance, a suppressed group of people have an uncontrollable hatred towards their dictator and they also may feel and longing to be like them in order to gain their acceptance. Actual nature is very similar to human nature, " you are their dream, their waking, their quarry, their demon". Oliver catches the simple truths of power and explains that just as the power structure in the natural habitat of the pinewoods in unalterable the power structure among people is mostly unalterable.
The structure of the poem is unique because there are no stanzas and rarely does Oliver choose to use periods. The poem reads more like a rant than a thought or reflection. The structure is what makes this poem so full of bitterness and anger.
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