Analyzing Sharon Olds 'Poem Ode To Dirt'

With all the distractions around in our daily lives, sometimes we forget about the world around us, we forget about the little things in life like nature and the people around us. Sharon Olds decided to make a poem to appreciate one of the little things that do so much for Earth, dirt. She created the poem, “ Ode to Dirt ”. In the poem, the author uses an immense amount of figurative language and theming to celebrate the dirt while also apologizing for not celebrating it sooner.

The author celebrates and praises dirt in a way that shows the reader a different outlook on life, a more simple outlook. The author uses figurative language to show how much dirt has done for humanity and our planet. For example, in line 19 the author states, “you