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Home | Arts & Entertainment | Poetry Elizabeth Bishop was born in America in 1911. Her father died shortly after her birth and at the age of five Bishop lost her mother to mental illness. These harsh lessons of life, so early learned, left a void in Bishop’s life, the void of a settled loving family. Her poem ”Filling Station” explores the themes of love and family which depicts her longing to be loved and to belong. The poem describes a family living amongst the oil and dirt of a filling station. At first she dismisses the filthy place “Oh but it is dirty!” But as in much of her poetry Bishop looks beyond the obvious to find a beauty and homeliness within all the dirt. In this poem she comes to the conclusion that ”Somebody loves us all”. This short sentence has gained the power of a proverb for me in my life and I’m sure it will hold resonance with many of you too. This comforting thought, wise and true, shows how Bishop reveals the truth through her close observation of the little things in her quest for self-discovery. Bishop’s original way of viewing situations is also clear in her poem “The Prodigal”. Have you ever wondered what happened to the prodigal son during his transgression from home? Well Bishop did in this clever poem which focuses on the lowest part of the prodigal son’s life. This effectively simple poem describes mankind’s need for companionship, she herself being a self-proclaimed outsider. A striking photographic quality of images is atypical of Bishop’s poetry. Her poem “The Fish” uses language that is imagistic and precise in describing the confrontation between an amateur fisher and a “tremendous” battle-worn fish. The poem is rich in imagery, simile and metaphor and uses layering of images which describes in intricate detail the newly caught fish. Bishop is an empathetic imaginative observer as she describes the fish inside and out down to “The dramatic reds and blacks of his shiny entrails, and the pink swim bladder like a big peony”. The final line “until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go” describes a moment of epiphany and revelation common to Bishop’s poetry. Bishop pronounces a merciful verdict on the life of the venerable old fish which contrasts strongly with man’s attempt to conquer nature. This moral poem is one to think about the next time you go fishing. My favorite poem by Elizabeth Bishop is “First Death in Nova Scotia”. The full complexity of childhood is effectively evoked in this simple poem about the death of her cousin. This is a poem we can all relate to as it captures a child’s first experience of death. Although written in her fifties, Bishop manages to capture the confusion she felt as she attempted to understand the finality of death. This poem has quite a chilling quality which echoes the wrong sequence death has taken in extinguishing the life of a child. The final stanza, although chilling, is one of my favorite pieces of poetry. The vulnerability and fear created as the child doubts the presence of an afterlife is true of my experience of death and I’m sure other’s. The child Bishop asks “But how could Arthur go; clutching his tiny lily with his eyes shut up so tight and the roads deep in snow?” This final line filled with poignancy is a perfect example of Bishop’s simple but effective style. Her poetry covers topics from death to family and from travel to morality. Her keen eye for detail, her accurate observations and her simple, concise description of the world around us makes Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry an animated read. Her poetry boasts genuine feeling which originates from her own harsh experiences in life and often expresses a greater understanding of life and death. Her pleasing style makes her poetry a firm favorite among many amateur writers and poetry lovers. I hope I have instilled in you today the joys of reading the poetry of one of the most influential females of the last century. I will now leave you with a final quote from Elizabeth Bishop’s poem called “Poem”. This poem maps the reader’s experience of reading poetry, from indifference to recognition of a common humanity. Life and the memory of it cramped, dim, on a piece of Bristol board, dim, but how alive, how touching in detail--the little that we get for free, the little of our earthly trust? Article Source: http://www.articlewheel.com
The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com. Sharon White is a senior writer and writers’ consultant in UK dissertation writing. Get some useful tips for Dissertation service and title page for research
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