Dream Work, a collection of forty-five poems originally published in 1986, follows both chronologically and logically Mary Oliver's
American Primitive, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1983. The depth and diversity of perceptual awareness, so steadfast and radiant in
American Primitive, continues in
Dream Work. Additionally, she has turned her attention in these poems to the solitary and difficult labours of the spirit, to accepting the truth about one's personal world, and to valuing the triumphs while transcending the failures of human relationships.
