Oxygen

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2005

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Breathing & Air

Understanding the air’s rich symbolic history is key to understanding “Oxygen.”. People have associated the air with the soul and consciousness for centuries. The entire universe emerged from the air, according to early ancient Greek philosophers, and the Tao Te Ching called breath the mother of all creation. In Oliver’s poem, air and breath animates the soul during its time on earth. Oliver later reaffirms this connection when the lover’s breath gets called their “life” (Line 14).

Because the air is linked to the soul, Oliver gives everything that uses it a soul, personifying the fire that “feeds” (Line 22) on it. Just before this, the fire presents roses to the speaker, expressing "gratitude" (Line 22). The breathing machine, with a “lung-like voice” (Line 5), acts “mercifully” (Line 3) in aiding the speaker and their lover. Even though the speaker and their lover engage in quiet activities, their world becomes lively and dynamic thanks to the fire and machine’s presence.

If air both sustains and is the soul in “Oxygen,” Oliver then blurs the boundaries between life and death. The speaker states the lover’s breath and life are, “so close / to my own that I would not know // where to drop the knife of / separation” (Lines 14-17). The lovers’ lives are both physically and spiritually intwined. If one was to leave the world before the other, they would remain connected through the air. Oliver cited the Roman poet Lucretius’ theory of recycled energy as a major influence in an interview. “Everything’s mortal; it dies. But its parts don’t die,” she said. “Its parts become something else” (Tippett).

Modern researchers have proven that oxygen makes sound possible, ignites fires, and comes from an interchange between plant and animals. Oliver subtly connects everything in the poem through air’s presence. The speaker hears both the machine and the lover because air carries noise. The fire another because the speaker moves the logs to lie more loosely, which lets more oxygen into the hearth. Everyone and everything gain vitality through the air.

Through these links, Oliver underscores the value of caregiving. To be a part of the world and to love are not just observation, but to recognize one’s self in another and willingly give time to nurturing their existence.

Fire

Societies have symbolically linked fire with life and the soul with the air. The ancient Greeks even envisioned breath as a ray of fire. However, while air represents thought, fire stands for action and process.

In the poem, the speaker's activity revolves around fire. Oliver portrays fire itself as an active participant in the scene. After Oliver tends the fire, the fire "rises / and offers a dozen singing, deep-red / roses of flame" (Lines 19-21).

But why does the speaker stroke the fire in the first place? It returns to the idea of fire as a symbol of the soul and action. Hearths played a vital role in ancient Greeks and Romans' religious, civic, and home lives. Hestia/Vesta, the goddess of hearth and house, kindled feelings of unity and continuity just as she kindled the flames on the hearth.

In Hellenistic style, the speaker tends to the fireplace as a way to unite her and her lover. Even though Oliver implies the lover uses the machine introduced in the first stanza, the lover only physically enters the poem after the speaker finishes stirring the flames.

After the speaker thinks, "what does this have to do / with love, except // everything," (Lines 17-19) her attention immediately returns to the fire. The fire further clarifies the answer: devotion. Oxygen fuels fires. When the speaker loosens the logs, she lets more air in to keep the fire going. Arguably, her action stands in for bringing the machine into their home to help her lover breathe. The fire offers the speakers "deep-red / roses" (Lines 20-21), flowers associated with passionate, committed love. Taking the time to understand another's needs and desires allows love to thrive.

With this understanding, the fire becomes an embodiment of the lover. Because of Hestia/Vesta, and because of their association with domestic work, hearths are often considered feminine in Western traditions. The speaker tends to a place traditionally seen as the domain of women. Oliver also plants a parallel between the logs and the lover. The lover leans on her right shoulder, which makes it ache. It gives an impression of the lover in a cramped space or curled up on herself. By saying the logs need to "lie more loosely" (Line 8), it creates an image of the logs crammed tightly together. The speaker stirs the fire, fixing the problem and allowing it to rise. The speaker knows and will see to the lover's needs, allowing the lover to continue their life. The speaker tends to their lover's very soul. Again, in ancient Greco-Roman cultures, the hearth represented continuity and stability.

When viewed through a more general historical context, there is a link between fire, nursing, and the lover. For centuries, people relied on fires for basic survival. Within the context of the poem's death themes, the fire appears as a tool to provide healing comfort to the lover. It especially feels true when considering that heat soothes aches and pains.

The fire also links "Oxygen" to Oliver's broader thematic engagement, demonstrating that the mundane action of fire-tending offers the speaker (and reader) existential insight that helps one cope with a lover's illness.

Roses

The fire's "deep-red / roses" (Lines 20-21) most obviously invoke the speaker's love for their partner. Both fire and red symbolize passion, which is quietly domestic in this case. Red is the most common rose color associated with romantic love.

However, Oliver uses the rose's other symbolic meanings and historical contexts to show the depth of the speaker's love for her partner. Throughout history, people have used roses for purposes besides courtship, including addressing health concerns. People used rose water and oil in skincare, plague prevention, and witchcraft; as such, the roses create a link between the fire and promoting good health. This subtle detail suggests the fire is for the lover’s benefit.

As previously discussed, fire frequently represents progress, action, and change. Prometheus enabled humans to survive and learn by gifting them fire in Greek mythology. The speaker partakes in a mirror of ancient rituals by stoking the fire. "Stirring" and "letting the logs / lie more loosely" (Lines 7-8) are analogous to preparing a temple for a deity or praying. The comparison especially feels apt when considering ancient Greeks worshiped Hestia, the home goddess, through tending the hearth. The fire gives the speaker the tools (the roses) to heal her lover in return for the speaker's devotion.Since fire symbolizes knowledge, too, the roses may signify the successful result of a trial-and-error process. The speaker learned what would best help their lover after building her knowledge. The color red often also signifies blood and the human body. To get red roses from the fire means they receive medical knowledge or aid in caregiving. The speaker gained their know-how the same way they made a fire: with vigilance and attention.

Oliver also invokes the rose's otherworldly connections. After the fire offers the roses, it settles quickly. Since the roses come from the fire's flames as it rises, Oliver makes the roses disappear as the fire lowers, with the roses symbolizing the liminal. Throughout the poem, Oliver hints that life is temporary. The body only houses the soul when "it calls the earth its home" (Line 2). The speaker hears their partner and the machine breathing, and admits that they do not know how to live separately from their lover. Many deities use the rose as their special symbol: Aphrodite, the Virgin Mary, Cybele, and Dionysus. The rose bridges the earth and humanity, the immortal and holy, and the living and the dead.

Oliver combines all these symbols to show the timeless nature of the lovers' relationship. The speaker's deep love moves the speaker to do anything for their partner. That connection will last beyond the partner's passing. For Oliver, love is comforting, transcendent, attentive, spiritual, and lasting.