Beacon Press
Boston, Massachusetts
www.beacon.org

Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

© 2004 by Mary Oliver
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the uncoated paper ANSI/NISO specifications for permanence as revised in 1992.

Text design by Sara Eisenman

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oliver, Mary
Blue iris : poems and essays / Mary Oliver.
p. cm.
e-ISBN 978-0-8070-9660-4
ISBN 0-8070-6883-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Flowers-Poetry. 2. Flowers. I. Title.

PS3565.L5B57 2004
811ʹ.54-dc22
2004008572