Oxygen

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).