"Good-Bye Fox" is American poet Mary Oliver's witty reflection on the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Through a conversation with a fox, the poem's speaker learns that people can't think their way to a meaningful life: the point of being alive, the fox teaches her, is not to understand life's meaning but simply to live, pure and simple. The poem first appeared in Oliver's 2012 collection A Thousand Mornings.
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The Full Text of “Good-Bye Fox”
The Full Text of “Good-Bye Fox”
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“Good-Bye Fox” Summary
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“Good-Bye Fox” Themes
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The Wisdom of Nature
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-21
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Poetry and the Search for Meaning
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 12-20
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Good-Bye Fox”
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Lines 1-4
He was lying ...
... not bounding away. -
Lines 5-7
You're not running ...
... or not know. -
Lines 8-11
What conversation do ...
... She was huffed. -
Lines 12-14
So you're okay ...
... between us. -
Lines 15-18
Yes, I agree. ...
... Oh! -
Lines 19-21
Could anyone figure ...
... and ambled away.
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“Good-Bye Fox” Symbols
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The Fox
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “He was lying under a tree, licking up the shade. / Hello again, Fox, I said.”
- Lines 15-17: “Yes, I agree. You fuss over life with your clever / words, mulling and chewing on its meaning, while / we just live it.”
- Lines 19-20: “Could anyone figure it out, to a finality? So / why spend so much time trying. You fuss, we live.”
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“Good-Bye Fox” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Anthropomorphism
Where anthropomorphism appears in the poem:- Lines 1-21
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Line 1: “licking up the shade”
- Line 16: “chewing on its meaning”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 4: “not bounding away”
- Line 5: “not running away”
- Line 9: “fox”
- Line 10: “fox”
- Line 12: “book”
- Line 13: “book,” “book”
- Line 15: “You fuss”
- Line 17: “we just live it”
- Line 20: “You fuss, we live.”
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Synecdoche
Where synecdoche appears in the poem:- Line 9: “"The hunt is good for the fox."”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 3-4: “and / not”
- Lines 6-7: “News / travels”
- Lines 13-14: “difference / between”
- Lines 15-16: “clever / words”
- Lines 16-17: “while / we”
- Lines 19-20: “So / why”
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 1: “lying,” “licking”
- Line 16: “mulling,” “meaning”
- Lines 16-17: “while / we”
- Line 19: “figure,” “finality”
- Line 20: “time trying,” “fuss”
- Line 21: “stood, slowly”
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Rhetorical Question
Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:- Line 10: “Which fox?”
- Line 19: “Could anyone figure it out, to a finality?”
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“Good-Bye Fox” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Bounding
- Huffed
- Mulling
- To a finality
- Ambled
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(Location in poem: Line 4: “not bounding away”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Good-Bye Fox”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Good-Bye Fox” Speaker
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“Good-Bye Fox” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Good-Bye Fox”
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More “Good-Bye Fox” Resources
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External Resources
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A Short Biography — Visit the Poetry Foundation's website to learn more about Mary Oliver's life and work.
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Oliver's Obituary — Read Oliver's obituary to learn more about her life.
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An Interview with Oliver — Watch an interview in which Oliver discusses her work and reads some of her poetry aloud.
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Oliver's Legacy — Read an appreciation of Oliver published not long after her death in 2019.
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A Thousand Mornings — Listen to Oliver discussing A Thousand Mornings, the 2012 collection in which this poem was first published.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Mary Oliver
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