Suffering InOne Art, By Elizabeth Bishop

Suffering InOne Art, By Elizabeth Bishop
Living is to accept losing, for it is an inevitable part of life. Every day we live, we will lose
something. Our physical bodies, families, possessions, emotions, and memories can possibly vanish
in a matter of seconds. Thus, accepting such horrid fact is an art of living. The poem "One Art"
written by Elizabeth Bishop, one the of most influential American poets, is all about such art. As
from the surface, the poem conveys a lesson of the art by expressing explicitly the author's mastery,
and Bishop employs her personal experiences to support her argument. Overall, the poem is
straightforward and easy to comprehend. However, many elements in this poem suggest a more
complex message. Through careful examination of the poem and her biography, the true message,
contrary to the lesson as suggested by the surface level, appears to be Bishop's cry for the losses of
her life, especially the loss of her significant other. Skimming through Bishop's poem, many
valuable elements constitute to the overall beauty. Nevertheless, the tail rhyme is perhaps one of the
most distinctive characteristics. For every stanza, the last word of the first line rhymes with the last
line's, for instance, "master" (1.1) and "disaster" (1.3) in the first stanza. However, this excludes the
fourth stanza. Such usage of rhyme creates a quite unique flow, fast and smooth. This affects the
poem significantly, for it captures readers' interest. Moreover, she also enhances the effect with
repetition. Throughout
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Elizabeth Bishop Villanelle
"One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop is a nineteen line poem known as, a Villanelle. The poem uses
repetition and rhyme to describe the losses which Bishop experienced throughout her life. She
describes all types of loss from the smaller losses, such as your keys or phone, all the way to the
most affecting losses like a home or a life. Bishop uses the traditional poetry form of Villanelle to
portray the theme of loss, as well as, the theme of memory and the past.
Throughout the poem, Bishop uses the poetry form, Villanelle. A villanelle is made up of nineteen
lines, 5 tercets and a quartet, with two refrains and two repeating rhymes. The rhyme scheme for a
villanelle is five tercets of aba and a quartet of abaa. In the first four stanzas along with

Sestina By Elizabeth Bishop
One should express their grief with others, rather than letting it brew within themselves. Named
after its poetic fixed form, "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop is a poem that touches on isolation, loss,
and pensiveness, and how these sorrows are expressed in characters and the environment around
them. Bishop achieves this depth and ambiguity of her poem through her deliberate use of diction
and literary techniques. Throughout the entire poem, there is a personification of the kitchen objects
that gives way to an underlying meaning. As the child refuses to pay attention to her grandmother's
constant distractions, her attention is them stolen by the things around her and how they come to
life, conveying exactly what the grandmother refuses to say.

The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop Essay
The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop With fewer than fifty published poems Elizabeth Bishop is not one of
the most prominent poets of our time. She is however well known for her use of imagery and her
ability to convey the narrator?s emotions to the reader. In her vividly visual poem 'The Fish', the
reader is exposed to a story wherein the use of language not only draws the reader into the story but
causes the images to transcend the written work. In the poem, Bishop makes use of numerous
literary devices such as similes, adjectives, and descriptive language. All of these devices culminate
in the reader experiencing a precise and detailed mental image of the poem's setting and happenings.
One of the most prevalent of the literary ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Throughout the poem the reader is exposed to adjectives that are more vivid than those you would
expect to find in traditional speech. This is due to the fact that in poetry the author often has the
need to express emotional sensations to the reader. The adjectives allow the reader to become more
closely connected to the events and characters in the story by emphasizing the key points in the
mental imagery that the author wishes them to see. In the poem Bishop predominately uses this tool
to negatively describe objects or representations of objects. This gives the reader the feeling of
sympathy for the fish because these objects seem to cause or represent pain felt by the fish. For
example on lines 22–23 of the poem we experience the narrator?s first real sense of sympathy for
the fish when they speak of his gills ?breathing in / the terrible oxygen?. We can then relate the fish
breathing oxygen more closely to a human experience such as drowning. Much of the language in
the poem does not necessarily fall within the constraints of a specific literary devise. However the
language the author chooses to use is very descriptive of the situations and events that occur. From
the language in the poem we draw what is quite possibly the most important part of the whole
experience, the tone. From lines 5–6 we begin to hear the true tone, we get the impression that
possibly the fish does not fight because he is just too old and too tired to continue to try. Later

In The Waiting Room Elizabeth Bishop
The poem,"In the Waiting Room" shown within Elizabeth Bishop's book The Complete Poems
1927–1979 is an engaging and descriptive poem about a child's self–coming into adulthood.
Elizabeth, the child, narrates the story from her point of view, reading the National Geographic
while waiting for Aunt Consuelo to be finished with her appointment. The National Geographic
however, is a gateway which portrays Elizabeth's adult side, showing her as a child what is to come
as she grows older. Aunt Consuelo and those within the waiting room during the time when
Elizabeth looks around adds on to this point, making her ask more questions about her own name, as
well as her becoming like her Aunt. Which started with her picking up and flipping through, the
yellow margins of the National Geographic.
The idea behind the book National Geographic is to transport the reader into a location that they
have not been too. For this poem however, it transports Elizabeth to her being an adult. Showing her
what is to come with adulthood, "Babies with pointed heads wound round and round with string;
black, naked women with necks wound round and round with wire like the necks of light bulbs.
Their breasts were horrifying" (26–31) Elizabeth is horrified with what she sees as clearly stated,
she does not wish to become an adult. To be given these breasts, or even the experience of a child.
But since she was too scared to stop she kept reading till she heard her Aunt.
Continuing further within the

`` One Art `` By Elizabeth Bishop
"One Art" written by Elizabeth Bishop is a poem that can be read to describe how a person
sometimes may lose things but in the end, those things were meant to be lost. The practice of losing
things may be as simple as losing ordinary house keys. Yet losing things can progress to where a
person may start to lose more significant things such as mentioned in the poem, like names and
places to even a mother's watch. Even though a person may end up mastering the art of losing, there
are things that may not seem like a disaster but are. A person cannot fix what has been done, all they
can do is cope with the loss. Throughout the 18 years, I have lived on this earth I can say that I have
experienced what it means to lose something very valuable ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
I felt bad knowing how she felt and how mean people could be. I started to talk to her and be more
of a friend to her. It was not a bad decision at all. We started to hang out more and see that we had a
lot of things in common as friends. Our friendship grew and she thanked me for being the only
person that would talk to her and be her friend. By eighth grade, I managed to bring her into the
group of friends I was in and by that time we had formed a true friendship bond that we knew, or
somewhat thought, would last forever. She had become my best friend, the main person I could
count on to be there for me through the good and bad times. No matter what anyone would say
about us, we stuck by each other's side. We made the best out of our eighth–grade year. When it was
time to get ready for high school, we both decided to apply for Townview Magnet Center. I applied
for Business and she applied for Health and Professions. The biggest joy of all was to find out we
had both been accepted there and could go together. The first year of high school went by well, the
only thing was that we did not get to have a class together. The only period we did have together
was lunch and it was not bad, we still got to maintain our close bond. During freshman year Annita
ended up having her fifteenth birthday party and I was one of the first people she asked to be in it. It
was fun and we had a good time at her party. We also

The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop
"The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop is a very colorful poem filled with lots of different outcomes than
our usual expectations. The poem is very symbolic through its use color and the fish it describes.
The poem is also written in free verse, which you could relate to the nature of the fish. It is set on a
boat in the middle of the ocean, with the ocean symbolizing chaos, the nature of the poem. The fish
causes some conflict within this poem. First, the fish changes the speaker's expectation of how
events will occur. We can infer that the speaker did not find catching the fish as fulfilling as she
thought she would have. Based on the long debating and dangling of the fish, it is obvious that the
speaker feels at least moderately conflicted about

Analysis Of The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish" is a seemingly simple poem about a fisher who captures a fish and is
amazed by its entire image, but looking deeper and more intensely at the fish, the fisher becomes
aware of the dynamic of youth and aging. Imagery is used heavily and vividly throughout the poem
as Bishop describes how the fish looked in a way that the reader could thoroughly understand and
visualize, and by presenting the conflict of the hardships that a person may undergo through the
progression of his or her life, but from the standing point of a fish and not a human being
(personification). The use of imagery in "The Fish" is a significant element in this poem because it
gives proper representation to the importance of aging and the struggles that the older generations
have faced that the younger generation does not also sympathize with or take into consideration.
There are many examples of imagery in this poem, starting from the very beginning where Bishop
creates the perfect scene of a fisher out on a boat, catching a "tremendous fish". Victory and pride
are evoked from this scene as the reader is able to picture the fisherman/woman, anxiously holding
up the big fish, with a look of excitement on their face. The feeling of happiness soon subsides as
Bishop goes on to write about how the fish didn't even put up a fight as his life was resting in the
hands of his captor. The reader can visual the fish, apathetically dangling from the speaker's hand.
The speaker of the poem

Summary Of One Art By Elizabeth Bishop
Art of Losing: An Analysis of Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art"
Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" seems like a straightforward poem, from the first line it presents the
idea that every person loses something and it "isn't hard to master" (1). But as the poem goes by the
reader is starting to wonder does the author truly thinks that losing things is easy. Tension builds
with each line, items become larger and more important and the audience can sense the ambivalent
feelings of the author, that maybe losing belongings is not that easy to do. The title of this villanelle
"One Art" is an interesting concept, meaning that art is something one can perfect if a person
practices enough, resembling a new style of painting or taking a high note in music. But Bishop's art
is different, no matter how much an individual will practice losing objects he or she will never be
able to get over the loss of some things. Art in the title can be also interpreted as author's poem, that
writing helps her to grow over her losses or at least try to make it seem easier than it is. Bishop
opens her villanelle "One Art" with a bold statement "the art of losing isn't hard to master;" (1)
which is a refrain she will repeat throughout the whole writing and makes the audience wonder why
she made such a point, because not having someone or something is not an easy thing to do. Then
she explains "so many things seem filled with the intent / to be lost that their loss is no disaster" (2–
3) meaning that some

The poem "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop is written with many devices to help illustrate and
develop the story of the fish. These help the reader get a clear picture of the message Bishop is
communicating. She uses a consistent structure and rhythm . The story could be any fisherman's
story, but Bishop uses similes and imagery to allow the reader to understand the same appreciation
she had for the fish. What seemed really noticeable about the structure of her writing was the
description of the hook in the fish's mouth. The fish is old and gnarly–looking, with barnacles and
algae growing on it, and it also has five fishing hooks with the lines still partially attached hanging
from its jaw. Bishop uses the hooks in the jaw of the fish to spur the reader's interest of the fish.
Like most of Bishop's poems, the events in the poem reveal background information. These hooks
help the reader sympathize with the fish and empathize with the narrator. The reader learns that the
fish has been through a lot in its life because they read, " green line, frayed at the end where he
broke it, two heavier lines, and a fine black thread still crimped from the strain and snap when it
broke and he got away." This tells the reader that the fish is resistant and a tough one to catch. It also
shows that the fish has been around for quite some time because it had barnacles on it, and the lines,
in its mouth, were old. Oddly, when caught this time, "He didn't fight. He hadn't fought at all. He
hung a

Analysis Of The Poem ' Sestina ' By Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop, a dramatically different and thought provoking poet, brought into being a fresh
and new style of poetry. Her poetry covered certain parts of her life in addition to giving the world
chastised looks. In particular, "Sestina" aptly named for the stanza the poem takes form in, presents
us with a haunting and austere outer look to a scene with a grandmother and her grandchild. Bishop
employs imagery like tears and the theme of time to illustrate her own loss and despair by depicting
two seemingly flat characters. Bishop uses small but sure language in "Sestina." This brings a
certain simplicity to the poem while also leaves the reader searching for hidden meanings. In the
first stanza, the light in the kitchen is labeled as ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The teakettle's tears from its spout are distracting the child as if there is a fascination of tears. This is
understandable as much of the time when one is crying, it is a draw of attention to others.. Bishop is
demonstrating the idea of personification in the teakettle by having it cry just as a human would. It
is also important to note that the kettle was singing right before it began to make tears as if to say,
"pay attention to me." Bishop follows with two more personifications. One describing the rain's
need to dance upon the roof and the other describing the almanac as clever. She continues her
literary device usage to liken the almanac to a bird. This is especially interesting because it lends
credence to the phrases "knowledge can set you free" and "knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."
The almanac hanging half open above the child is a key line because it shows that the world like the
book, is only half open to them right now. Also, that the knowledge in the almanac will be theirs to
discover in due time. On line 22 the image of tears appears yet again. On this occasion, the tears are
deep brown and are the form of tea in the grandmother's teacup. To this point, it is very likely that
the grandmother and grandchild were projections of Bishop's past and present. As a child, they
could be carefree and not have to fret about their life. However, as an adult Bishop had already been
through many things. The biggest impact on her life being her

The Poetry Of Elizabeth Bishop
One of the top poets in American history, Elizabeth Bishop, was known for her short stories. Born in
Worcester, Massachusetts, on February 8th, 1911, Elizabeth Bishop was raised without her parents
as her father died when she was less than a year old and her mother suffered mental instability and
was then committed to an institution when Bishop was only 5 years old. She then never seen her
mother again. Throughout her life, Elizabeth was wealthy and she spent a lot of her time traveling to
different countries around the world from 1935 to 1937. Elizabeth Bishop's poetry is filled with
descriptions of her travels and her surroundings. After 2 long years of travelling she finally settled in
Florida for four years. She then published her ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The fisherman describes his thoughts while he observed the fish. He initially saw the fish as an ugly
creature, but he ended up finding it intriguing so he continued to watch it. He observed both the
external features and the physiological features, Finally, the narrator notices the fish's lip, which was
filled with five hooks, including his own. At this point, the fisherman acknowledges what this fish
has been through. Both the fisherman and the reader can realize that this is a brave fish that has
given up with fighting to survive, which is why the fish did not fight unlike the other times, when it
got caught but was brave enough to fight and and escape the previous fishermen. The speaker
describes the pieces of fish line as medals and as he says, "a five–haired beard of wisdom/ trailing
from his aching jaw" (Bishop, The Fish, 63–64). Finally the fisherman's appreciation for this
battered and venerable animal reaches out to make him think about and compare to the other things
in life. One of the examples the fisherman gave was the boat in which he is sitting in that he rented
to fish. The fisherman realizes that this boat which he had not thought twice about until this point,
had been through the similar issues as the fish. The thoughts about the life of the fish and the boat
makes this situation a life changing situation for the fisherman and a lesson to the readers because
the fact

The Moose By Elizabeth Bishop
The poem The Moose by Elizabeth Bishop opens up by capturing the landscape and physical
appearance of the Nova Scotia coast, where Bishop was taken to live with her grandparents in her
younger days. As she is traveling to Boston she takes into account various images and perspectives
she is seeing and hearing. Like some of Bishop's previous poems, The Moose focuses on the beauty
and power of nature, and how nature can be almost a burden to our everyday life. Bishop does this
by including vivid imagery, syntax, and alliteration throughout the poem.
With Bishop being familiar with the Nova Scotia coast, she really has a connection in the poem with
the landscape and what is going on around her, which the reader can appreciate throughout the first
couple of stanzas. The reader can identify this connection with the vivid use of imagery Bishop
portrays. She starts out the poem describing the scenery and a little bit of the culture that has
surrounded her for most of her years. Lines 1 – 4 cite, "From narrow provinces /of fish and bread
and tea, / home of the long tides/ where the bay leaves the sea." With these particular lines, Bishop
creates a soothing and comfortable image and tone. She sets the mood of the poem by the repetitive
syntactical use of language. Bishop does a great job with this by having the reader appreciate what
she is seeing and displaying a meaning of what is behind these "long tides" and the bay.
She continues on with the third stanza describing the sunset

Diction And Imagery In The Fish, By Elizabeth Bishop
The Fish, by Elizabeth Bishop, is a story about a fisherman and the fish he or she catches.
Throughout the whole poem, Bishop uses diction and imagery to capture the image of the poem and
express the meaning behind it. In the beginning, the speaker described how he or she caught the
fish, and developed a series of reflecting moments. At first, the speaker was proud of his or her
victory over the fish, but then realized it was a wrong thing to do. Bishop wrote about how the
speaker shifts from seeing the fish as food, to something else beautiful. The speaker's attitude
towards the fish has changed throughout the poem. "He hung a grunting weight, battered and
venerable and homely." This was the first detail the speaker described about the ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
The diction that Bishop uses really shows how the speaker felt sympathetic towards the fish.
"Where he broke it, two heavier lines, and a fine black thread still crimped from the strain and snap
when it broke and he got away." This was said as if the speaker was in the fish's position, and knew
what the fish is going through; how the fish suffered through such pain just to be free. The fish has
become "someone" important to the speaker, so he or she does not want to hurt the fish by capturing
him. The speaker has reflected upon the images he or she saw, and realized the fish must be set free.
The sympathy, love, and kindness can be seen through the the last lines of the poem, and the
imagery is much vividly. "Oil had spread a rainbow around the rusted engine to the bailer rusted
orange". The imagery and metaphor of this last sentence used by Bishop are especially appropriate
of the whole poem. The speaker is describing that the rainbow comes from the spilled oil; how
Bishop words it, she is saying victory is coming from the disgusting bilge water where a rainbow
has formed. Like how battered, scratched, and unattractive the fish may look, the speaker sees light
and beauty of the fish, that changed the speaker's attitude towards the fish from the beginning.
Therefore, the speaker decided to let the fish go, instead of capturing

One Art By Elizabeth Bishop
The poem "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop is a intense peice of work in its form and content. The title
One Art implies that the art of losing is just a singular talent to achive; however the tone of the poem
itself contracits this thought. The style Elizabeth Bishop wrote in is very perculiar, the sutble use of
literarry devices such as her poor exicuation on a villanelle on purpose, or her use of parentheticals
make for a very intresting take away. Above all else the way the diction itself seems to detireate as
the poem progresses really catches my eye. All of these combinded makes the anyasis of "One Art"
a rather challenging but rewarding experiance. The art of losing is depicted as a simple thing to
acomplish because its just one action. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The form is made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain. The first and third lines of the opening
tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas; then in the final stanza, the
refrain serves as the poem's two concluding lines." Bishop's motive for choicing this form is
puzzeling due to its strict form, which she clearly breaks on more than one occasion. Lines: one, six
twelve, and eighteen should all aline word for word as well as: three, nibne, fifteen and nineteen.
This is obviously not the case as the poem progresses it becomes father and father away from the
original. Line three– " to be lost that their loss is no disaster". Line nine– " to ravel. None of these
will bring disaster." Line fifteen– "I miss them, but it wasnt a disaster. Line nineteen– "though it
may look like (Write it!) like disaster." This is bazzare for a poem with such a tight set of rules. Also
as shown above in line nineteen there is a parenthetical. This in and of itself is very strange. Rarely
are there cases of parenteticals in poems let alone two in the same stanza.– Line 16 and 17– " . . .(
the joking voice, a gesture I love) . .

Travelling By Elizabeth Bishop Broaches
The poem Questions of travelling by Elizabeth Bishop broaches the issue of negative and positive
aspects of travelling on the one hand versus staying at home on the other hand. It consists of five
stanzas. The first stanza of this poem focuses on the negative aspects of travelling. The second
stanza, which is still more focused on the negative aspects, consists mostly of questions. However, a
significant turning point can be found in the third stanza: here the author begins to mention the
positive aspects of travelling. The last two stanzas are shorter than the previous ones and they are a
notebook entry of a traveller. The poem ends with a question: 'Should we have stayed at home,
wherever that may be?' (line 67). In the end the author gives no clear answer to this question.
Although the poem is divided into stanzas and lines, there is no rhyme scheme or meter. The
concept of free verse can be found here. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind, that poems
with free verse should still have 'aural and visual rhythms on its own' (Scott 2013: 197). This
statement can indeed be applied to this poem, which will be shown in the following paragraphs. In
this case the choice of free verse makes the poem more personal and it seems to be a demonstration
of a person's thoughts.
The first stanza focuses only on the negative aspects of travelling. The narrator describes waterfalls,
streams, clouds and mountains. An emphasis is placed on the movement of these. As it can be seen
by

Imagery In The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop
In the poem "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop the speaker uses a lot of imagery to try to describe to
the reader the hardships that this fish must have faced throughout its life. In a rusted, oil leaking,
rented boat the speaker hauls up an enormous fish and then stares at it going into detail on its
appearance. As you continue to read the speaker begins an ironic description of the fish. The fish
was old, already escaping five separate fishers, he excepts his fate and does not fight to be freed
again. He is painted as helpless because of this as you can see when the speaker says "He didn't
fight. He had not fought at all. He hung a grunting weight, battered and venerable and homely." But
then goes ahead to counter that argument by detailing his

Power Of Observation In The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop
Poetry is used to tell a story. Within that story, authors often use literary devices to evoke the
emotions and the interest of the reader. Through the use of vivid imagery and metaphors, Elizabeth
Bishop utilizes the power of observation in her poem The Fish to find beauty in something that isn't
traditionally beautiful. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Bishop was an only child. After
her father passed away when she was only eight months old, her mentally–troubled mother was left
alone to raise her. At the age of four, her mother was committed to an institution and Bishop was
raised in Nova Scotia by her grandparents. She was greatly influenced by her time in Nova Scotia,
as it granted her a newfound respect for nature. However,

Elizabeth Bishop Tone
Elizabeth Bishop hid many aspects of her life, and although she was not openly confessional as
Robert Lowell, pieces of her did filter through in her poetry: intentional or otherwise. Even so,
Bishop's work is like twisting the blinds open. You must exert some force, though not too much, to
allow the light to come in. There is a delicate balance a reader must find when interpreting Bishop's
poetry between knowing the context of the poem and bringing in personal experience. Moreover,
interpreting her work through only raw text rather than the communication between poet and reader
will dilute the experience. Using expert tone and imagery, Bishop paints elaborate scenes that create
a portal to places one has never been, but feels like they've ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The man and the boat are both worn and at the same time, working. You sense that the man doesn't
throw anything away until he's exhausted it and he can no longer use it. In addition to this, the
speaker mentions the smell of fish being so strong "it makes one's nose run and one's eyes water"
(8) yet the elderly man is not affected. He is a significant representation of mankind, not to mention
the old (though his age has only a bit to do with the latter). The speaker of the poem offers him a
"Lucky Strike" (32) as a token of friendship, which he accepts. Equally important to note is that the
old gentleman is surrounded by the tools of his trade as a fisherman. These are man–made objects
that are used to harvest, or control, nature. Meanwhile, the poem alludes that nature cannot be
restrained. The use of lines such as "(...) old buildings with an emerald moss / growing on their
shoreward walls." (19–20) and "where the ironwork has rusted." (31). Another portion of the first
stanza that shows that nature cannot be tame is when the speaker mentions the elderly man's knife.
Although the knife has "scraped the scales, the principal beauty, / from unnumbered fish with that
black old knife, / the blade of which is almost worn away." (38–40), time and the repetitive act of
his work has worn out his blade and his boat, almost as if nature is slowly taking back what the
gentleman took from

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop is a villanelle in which the narrator talks of losing things. Her attitude
of losing things in lines 16–19 is different from her attitude in lines 1–15. As the poem continues,
the narrator's losses change from material items to the truly painful loss of a beloved person. Bishop
uses verse form and language throughout the poem which contribute to the reader's understanding of
the narrator's different attitudes throughout the poem.
In lines 1–15, the author writes in tercets.The combination of writing in tercets, and having an a–b–a
rhyme pattern creates a steady rhythm to the poem. The poem also uses repetition of the words
'master', and 'disaster' to show that the narrator is trying to convince herself that it is ... Show more
In the final stanza the author switches from talking about losing things to losing a person. She says
"Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture/ that I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident/ the art of
losing's not too hard to master/ though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster" (Lines 16–19). The use
of parentheses in the last line makes the last stanza more personal. The author switches from
addressing the reader (lines 1–15), to her love (lines 16–17), then to herself in line 19. When the
author says "(Write it!)" (Line 19), she capitalizes the W, making it an imperative command to
herself, forcing herself to admit that losing you was a disaster. In stanza 1, the author says "The art
of losing isn't hard to master" (Line 1). That stanza is refrained as the poem continues, but is
changed slightly in the last stanza to: "It's evident/ the art of losing's not too hard to master..." (Lines
17–18), which is a significant confidence change from the beginning of the poem. In the beginning
the author says that losing things is no disaster because it is their intent to be lost. In the last stanza
the author's attitude changes, saying that it was easy to master the art of losing, even though it looks
like a

Analysis Of One Art By Elizabeth Bishop
After quick scan of the poem "One Art", the reader should recognize the poem as having the closed
form. The poem is regular, symmetrical, and falls into stanzas. The first five stanzas have three lines
and the last stanza contains four lines. A longer peruse of "One Art" will help the reader identify the
villanelle form. The first line of the poem is repeated in the 2nd, 4th and 6th stanzas, while the last
word of the first stanza (3rd line) is repeated in the 3rd, 5th, and 6th stanzas. The poem appears to
have the powerful music effect that is usually associated with a villanelle. The poem hints at being
autobiographical after reading about Elizabeth Bishop's life in the "Lives of the Poets" section of the
text– Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. The personal voice also hints at the
poem being autobiographical. Further analysis of the poem and Bishop's life leads to the discovery
of confessional poetry.Researching The Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia tells us that Elizabeth
Bishop's works will usually "highlight the sense of strangeness that can underlay ordinary events"
("Elizabeth Bishop"). The text (Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama) makes
reference to Bishop's use of metaphor. Elizabeth Bishop refers to losing as an art. The American
Heritage Talking Dictionary defines art as a skill that is practiced ("art"). "One Art" makes specific
reference to practicing losing (line 7). Loss is defined as a condition of being deprived

The Mental Imagery Of The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop
The Mental Imagery of "The Fish"
In Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish," Bishop uses vivid imagery, and diction to allow the reader to
picture the fish and create a connection with him, one of respect and admiration for him. The
reader's mental image of the fish's struggles and appearance are so vibrant that the reader cannot
help but believe that this fish could very well be real.
Initially the audience is peppered by a multitude of adjectives with the narrator describing the catch.
The narrator catches a "tremendous fish,"(1) that looked "battered and venerable/ and homely" (8–
9). The reader can picture the fish's situation akin to their past experiences or stories of fishing and
can sympathize with the circumstance. Bishop compares the fish to ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Next, Bishop describes the "wallpaper" (14) as it had "shapes like full–blown roses/ stained and lost
through age" (14–15). With the use of another simile, Bishop is able to illustrate a distinctive image
of the fish. She uses the common "wallpaper" (14) resemblance because the reader can easily relate
it to their environment and lives. This also illustrates the fish's age as its skin is "like ancient
wallpaper," (11) as although the fish has had its fair struggles over the years he has made it through
all these battles alive. Bishop uses "stained" (15) and "speckled" (16) and "infested" (18) as highly
graphic words to portray an even more detailed image of the fish for the reader. Bishop describes
oxygen as "terrible" (23) because of the fish, as breathing oxygen is normal except in the case for
fish and other marine animals. The reader can visualize the fish's predicament where out of the
water he is struggling to breath. Along with "frightening gills" (24) in the next line, the reader can
sense the fish gasping for breath and helps the reader picture the fish's struggle. Bishop's diction
escalates the initial image of the fish and layers more and more descriptions again to create the
reader's own distinctive

The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop
When an individual looks at an animal, does he see an object or a living breathing individual? In
"The Fish," Elizabeth Bishop turns an everyday object such as a fish into a battle scarred war hero in
the eyes of the reader. Societies various perspectives on the consumptions of living animas has
influenced the preconception the speaker has on living animals. With her previous knowledge of
fishes and her use of personification, she creates a new ideology on how to view living animals.
This becomes the main transformation the speaker has on her fishing journey. Ultimately in "The
Fish," the theme of morality is contemplated as the speaker changes her perspective on the symbolic
fish, and in doing so it changes the reader's preconceptions on ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
From reading the poem, the reader is aware of how descriptive Bishop is with her observations.
Furthermore, the way the speaker depicts each description is very important observation. Carlson
writes, "Bishop anthropomorphizes the fish, calling it 'he' throughout" (82). This introduces the fish
as a male figure and begins to characterize it away from being more than just an object. This
introduces the idea of personification by how Bishop begins to characterize the fish. In addition,
Bishop writes, "I admired his sullen face, / the mechanism of his jaw" (45–46). Here we see Bishop
starts to admire the human like characteristics the fish has. Carlson says, "It is the human
subjectivity to which Bishop responds...describing the fish's ability to attract her sympathy in
anthropomorphic–and gendered–terms" (82). In other words by characterizing the fish as male and
describing him in a human–like form, Bishop creates a sympathetic attraction to the fish in the
reader and the speaker. We see a sense of connection in Bishop's quote when he says," I looked into
his eyes / which were larger than mine / but shallower, and yellowed, / the iris backed and packed /
with tarnished tinfoil seen through the lenses / of old scratched isinglass" (34–40). This connection
we see where the fish is being

When Elizabeth Bishop writes a poem of someone's experience catching a fish, the person catching
the fish, presumed as the narrator, describes the fish's intricate details which essentially gives it an
ugly appearance. In an explication of "The Fish," the analyzer also notes how the narrator's
descriptions yield an ugly appearance of the fish, but with further observation, the narrator realizes
the beauty deep within the fish and the fact that the fish is a warrior. The ugly description of the
outside of the fish correlates with how some people tend to make a quick judgment based on
someone's appearance without taking the time to think about what their personality or characteristics
include. Or even to think about what that person has been through that has caused them to look that
way. Evidently, as the poem continues, the narrator reveals that the fish has been through at least
five battles, according to the physical scars left in its jaw. The fish, a symbol for anyone who has
dealt with difficulties during their life, will persevere even while the outside world continues its
routine. The world will never stop for one person or, in this case, an animal from the poem, "The
Fish." All other people follow through with their daily tasks and the sun still shines in the morning.
Comparably, in "The Fish," the crickets went on with their chatter and the soft rain incessantly fell
on the leaves and in the lake. Although neither of these setting features were straightforwardly

Both Russian formalists and New Critics would think the poem " One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop is a
success. It is a success for Russian formalists because the poem uses several different techniques to
make the reader defamiliarized. The New Critics would think it is a success because of the meaning
behind many of the techniques used in the poem and the reader seems be able to understand the
intention of what the author was trying to get across in the poem. The Russian formalists would
think the poem " One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop was a success because it uses several techniques to
defamilarize the reader on the subject of losing things. The poem defamilarizes the reader on this
subject because it is an everyday occurrence for everyone from

Elizabeth Bishop Research Papers
Elizabeth Bishop is one of the worlds most important American Poets. Her poems were not
necessarily uplifting, instead, most were about struggling, being lost, and being down. Some of her
most famous poems are One Art, In The Waiting Room, and Sestina. All of which talk about some
sort of struggle someone may be having. Bishops poems are a reflection on her early childhood
where she experienced much loss, and emotional pain. Bishop did not publish many poems, instead
she focused on editing her poems until she felt that they were perfect. Elizabeth Bishop's poem One
Art is about losing items in your life, and how you should accept it. The poem is saying to start off
small and continue to lose something everyday to teach yourself that it does ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
This poem by Elizabeth Bishop is about a grandmother and her grandson in the kitchen cooking and
reading to pass the time. Throughout the time inside the kitchen, different objects and their
movements are compared to tears and how tears fall. The teakettle dripping tea into the cup is
compared to tears dripping off of someone's face. Buttons on a dolls face are also compared to tears
falling down someone's face. Rain falling on the house is reminding the grandmother of her tears, to
keep them from falling she cooks and talks to her grandson. The grandmother is constantly
reminded of tears, "the little moons fall down like tears from between the pages of the almanac into
the flower bed the child has carefully placed in the front of the house" (Sestina). The poems deeper
meaning is that the grandmother is hurting, and even though there are many tears, and so much
reminding her of it, she still has the strength to hold them

Elizabeth Bishop And Sestina Comparison
After reading the poem, "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop, it seemed as if the poet attempted to convey
to the idea of one bottling up and hiding their genuine feelings. Perhaps, the author is trying to
express to her audience that while emotional restraint may be appropriate at times, it is vital for
every individual to express the way they feel in order to alleviate themselves from the burden they
may be carrying. At the start of the poem, it describes how the grandmother and child are reading
jokes from the almanac on a rainy September evening. As they are reading the jokes, the poem
states how the grandmother is "laughing and talking to hide her tears." It is pretty clear that the
grandmother is trying to conceal her true feelings from the

Analysis Of Insomnia By Elizabeth Bishop
In the poem, "Insomnia" by Elizabeth Bishop, the speaker discusses her feelings and experiences of
restlessness and loneliness during the night, instigated by her lover's unrequited love. The poem
explores the parallel between the speaker and the moon through their shared dissatisfaction with
themselves and the speaker's aspiration to achieve the strength of the moon. In the poem, the
speaker recognizes her paralysis in her feminine role and conveys her desire to escape from the
realities of a patriarchal society toward an inverted fantastical reality.
The imagery in the poem, specifically natural imagery, helps use the reader's senses to develop a
vivid depiction of the speaker's connection to nature and dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality.
The speaker's continued use of the "moon" reflects her attribution of feminine identity and idolistic
character to the moon. As opposed to referencing herself and her personal insomnia, she uses the
imagery of the moon "beyond sleep" to convey her internal struggles with insomnia and her reality.
Throughout the poem, the speaker also refers to shining, reflective surfaces, such as "a body of
water or a mirror", to describe the inverted reality in which the speaker experiences reciprocated
love. Reflective surfaces often invert the image that is projected into them, seemingly distorting the
true nature and reality of the projected image. The speaker's reference to this reflective imagery
highlights her desire to escape the burden of a patriarchal society and assume an independent and
free feminine identity. Specifically, the use of natural imagery from the references to the "moon"
and "a body of water" convey the speaker's desire to take refuge within the Earth or in the feminine
identity of the Earth, Mother Earth. Feminine identities are often related and associated with aspects
of nature due to the natural cycle of the menstrual period and the natural process of procreation. The
speaker takes advantage of these connotations to suggest Earth and natural imagery as an escape
from the man–made terrors of male dominated society. In the second stanza, the speaker uses
extensive imagery to develop metaphors conveying the speaker's experience of jealousy of the moon

`` One Art `` By Elizabeth Bishop Essay
We as humans portray loss as a negative aspect of life. The reaction we have to losing anything is
almost always distraught, especially when it was of importance. The poem talks about losses and
how they affect our lives. Ironically, in this piece by Bishop, loss seems as if the speaker anticipates
it and after they experience this loss, it is almost inevitable. Elizabeth Bishop's poem, "One Art"
suggested that the action of losing substance is a prideful accomplishment. This is because of the
line; "the art of losing isn't hard to master" which sounds as if she is bragging or proud of how
simple to lose something is achieved. The line is also proposed to readers that the existence of some
things in this world is subject to be lost, which therefore makes the result of them lost being not a
big problem. Bishop clearly illustrated that we ought to get accustom to losing things. She believes
this attainable by the practice of small things, like house keys or time wasted. The poem's concept is
getting comfortable with mediocre losses enough that we prepare ourselves to deal with the major
losses when they arrive. The entire poem is easy to comprehend because of the various poetic
devices chosen to emphasize the claims and the structure, starting from the title. The title enhances
the reader's understanding of the poem's events and theme. The title also is an introduction of
Elizabeth describing the art of losing things from least importance to most importance based on her

Sonnet Elizabeth Bishop Analysis
Close Reading of 'Sonnet' by Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop's poem, 'Sonnet' bears little resemblance to its namesake at first glance. Bishop
plays with our expectations, molding the well–known sonnet form into something new. She
transforms the meter and rhyme scheme of the sonnet to the point of metamorphosis, but she retains
the skeletal structure of the form; fourteen lines broken down into the customary octave and sestet.
Her invocation and subsequent subversion of the anticipated poetic form provide her with a baseline
to branch off from and without that context, the structure would not have the same effect on the
poem's meaning.
The structure of the first line sets the tone for the octave. Bishop begins in media ras with 'Caught'
(l. 1) but immediately undercuts that momentum with an em dash. This structure manifests the
instability of the poem which is then picked up by words such as 'level' (l. 2), 'wobbling and
wavering' (l. 5), 'bevel' (l. 11), and 'wherever' (l. 13). This is just the first example of structure
reinforcing meaning in 'Sonnet'
'Caught' (l. 1) also introduces the central theme of freedom and confinement. We see the
confinement motif play out in the octave with enclosed imagery such as the 'bubble' (l. 1) or even
the 'compass' (l. 4). However, instead of explicitly introducing contrast into the first part of the
poem, Bishop structures the sonnet as a progression, first focusing on confinement before moving to
freedom. The sonnet as a progression

Analysis Of One Art By Elizabeth Bishop
One Art Poetry Analysis
One art is poem written by Elizabeth Bishop discussing loss and the role it plays in the world. The
poem conveys a powerful message subtly hidden in the speaker's use of connotation and denotation.
In addition to the multiple connotations of loss in the poem, repetition and sound coupled together
add meaning overall to the poem. The form of the poem contributes to the uses of repetition and
connotation to emphasize the ease of loss.
In the poem as seen throughout much of it the speaker uses sound and repetition heavily through the
length of the poem. The poem itself is a mirror into the author, Elizabeth Bishop's, life and losses
she's collected throughout her lifetime. Upon research into Bishop the poem can easily be seen as a
autobiographical piece.In the poem the speaker confesses to losing "two cities, lovely ones" Bishop
lost her husband to suicide some years prior to having written the poem. Many of the losses
described in the poem are personal anecdotes straight from Bishops life. The poem casually denotes
the losses experienced in Bishops life creating a casual and ironic tone throughout the length of the
poem.
Specifically the poem is a villanelle, a 19 line poem with two rhymes throughput the poem
consisting of five tercets and a quatrain. In "One Art" the repeating lines are "The art of losing isn't
hard to master" and "Disaster", the end of every stanza in the poem the stanza ends with either of the
two. In every the poem builds upon

Elizabeth Bishop Research Paper
Elizabeth Bishop is a remarkable poet; she contributed to the Postmodern era experiment of the 20th
century when poets played with nontraditional forms and intricate verse. She wrote exactly 101
poems exploring diverse topics such as death and alcoholism. Bishop rose to prominence after she
published her first collection of poetry, North and South, and published her first novel along with
eighteen new poems in Poems: North and South–A Cold Spring, nine years later. Critics through the
ages praise Bishop for her detailed imagery, and her influence in the postmodern poetry is
noteworthy to this day.
Elizabeth Bishop had a fractured childhood. She was born in Worcester, Massachusetts February 11,
1911. Within eight months of her birth, her father, William Thomas Bishop, died due to
inflammation of the kidneys. The trauma of his death led to Elizabeth Bishop's mother, Gertrude
May Blumer, mental insanity and eventual admission to a mental asylum. Although these events
occurred very early on in her life, Bishop managed to create accurate descriptions of these
experiences in her poems. However, it is difficult to determine the exact moment when the full
weight of these early losses began to influence her writings since only a few poems ... Show more
Bishop decided to stay in Brazil for a couple months. While living there, Bishop met an architect
named Lota de Macedo. The two became very close and had an affair that lasted years.
Unfortunately, Lota de Macedo committed suicide in 1967. As a result, Bishop wrote her most
famous poem, "One Art." In the poem, Bishop discusses how easy it is to lose things. She starts with
small, insignificant objects, such as keys, but as the poem continues, the objects become more
significant. For example, the last thing the speaker says is, "Even losing you (the/ joking voice, a
gesture /I love) I shan't have lied." This line is thought to be a reference to her relationship with

Elizabeth Bishop Was An Only Child
Elizabeth Bishop was born on February 8, 1911, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Bishop was an only
child, who experienced disturbance and emotional attack at an early age. She was only 8 months old
when her father died. After such incident, her mother became a psychologically disturbed patient
and mentally unstable. Elizabeth was only five years of age when her mother was moved
permanently to an institution for mentally disturbed patients, after which, she never saw her mother
again ever. After her mother was moved on, Bishop was being looked after by her motherly
grandparents in Nova Scotia, Canada. However, after some years, her paternal grandparents took the
responsibility of bringing her up.
Bishop's paternal grandparents were well–off ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The collection of her second poetry was Poems: North & South/A Cold Spring (1955). Her second
collection received the Pulitzer Prize as well. After she left Key West in 1944, she went to Brazil
and lived there for 14 years (Oliveira, 2002).
Bishop was getting popular as an original and dominant American Poetess. In 1967, Bishop lived
for less time in Brazil and spent more time San Francisco, New York, and Massachusetts. At these
places, Bishop took a teaching position at the Harvard University in 1970. In the same year, 1970,
Bishop received a National Book Award in Poetry for her popular poetry collection, The Complete
Poems. Her repute became greater than before in the years that were just beforehand to her death.
Especially in 1976, the Geography III published and she became so popular after winning the
Neustadt International Prize for Literature (Oliveira, 2002).
Even though she continuously wrote poems until the end of her professional career, but at the same
time, she was also an author of published short stories. One of her first and main published short
stories was encompassed in the famous book, Questions of Travel. On the other hand, the poems of
Bishop primarily focused her life. Her poems were also about her impersonations of the outside
physical world. Most of her poetry collections are being taught in

Elizabeth Bishop Research Paper
Elizabeth Bishop was a remarkable poet; she contributed to the experiment of the 20th century
where poets experimented with nontraditional forms and intricate verse. She wrote exactly 100
poems, dealing with diverse topics such as death, wanderlust, and alcoholism. She also broke the
classic structure of 19th–century poetry to emphasize the style of the Modern Era. Bishop rose to
prominence after she published her first collection of poetry, North and South, and published her
first novel, along with eighteen new poems in Poems: North and South – A Cold Spring, nine years
later. Past and present critics praise Bishop for her detailed imagery, and her influence in the poetry
remains clear to this day.
As a young girl, Bishop had a dark childhood, filled with death. Elizabeth Bishop was born in
Worcester, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, Elizabeth Bishop is undeniably a post–modern poet. Postmodernism began in the late
30s.Some notable characteristics of poetry written during the Postmodernist period include an
objective point of view, an ironic look on life's tragedies and hyperreality. One of the many aspects
of PostModernism present in Bishop's poetry is that of an impersonal narrator. To be more specific,
poetry was told from an objective point of view. For Bishop, an impersonal narrator allowed Bishop
to to write poetry about situations she's been in without revealing her personal life. Blah says
"Bishop enters the consciousness of characters lost in a world bigger than themselves or their ideas
and lets them speak out of their limitations." The use of the distanced narrator is evident in
"Sestina": "In the failing light, the old grandmother /sits in the kitchen with the child/beside the
Little Marvel Stove..." (2–5). As __ says in "The Impersonal and the Interrogative in the Poetry of
Elizabeth Bishop", writing from an objective point of view puts human confusion and loss, as well
as human authority, "in

Elizabeth Bishop 's Life And Life
Elizabeth Bishop was born on February 9th, 1911 in Worcester, Massachusetts. When Bishop was
an infant, her father died from kidney disease, which provoked her mother's mental breakdown and
removal to a Canadian asylum. After her mother's admission, Bishop moved in with her maternal
grandparents in Nova Scotia, which became the setting for some of her future poems. Bishop was
then taken back to live in Worcester with her father's parents so that she could attend school in the
United States. Bishop's final move was in 1918, with her aunt and uncle outside Boston, where she
lived until 1930, when she enrolled in Vassar College (Lombardi 6). After graduating from Vassar,
Bishop lived in New York City, and spent time traveling the world. However, during this period
Bishop struggled with physical and mental illness, as well as immense loneliness throughout her
adult years. In 1938, Bishop moved from Manhattan to Key West, where many of her poems from
her Pulitzer Prize–winning collection, North & South, were collected (Kalstone 18). "The Man–
Moth," "The Weed," "Love Lies Sleeping," "Roosters," and "Paris, 7 A.M." all emerge in this
collection. As an aspiring young poet, Bishop kept numerous notebooks, which offer insight into the
inner workings of her mind, and offer explanations for many symbols and imagery in her future
poems. Themes that emerge within Bishop's notebook entries from 1934 and 1935 serve as
connection points between many of her poems. As her notebooks

Analyzing The Poem 'The Fish' By Elizabeth Bishop
In Elizabeth Bishop's poem entitled "The Fish," she tells the story of a fisherman who catches an
old, beaten up fish. It struck her by surprise when she realized the scars and hooks left behind from
other fishermen. The unexpected finding led the fisherman to a discovery that motivated her to
throw the fish back into the water. The fish was a reminder to the fisherman that nature can survive
despite the hardships mankind creates for it. The poem begins abruptly with a first line that
concisely describes what the fisherman physically does: "I caught a tremendous fish". However, the
poem that follows is mostly description of the fish itself. Someone viewing the scene from the third
person perspective wouldn't think much occurred. The fisherman's main actions that occur are only
spoken in three different lines throughout the poem: "I caught a tremendous fish", "I stared and
stared", and "And I let the fish go". To an everyday observer, nothing special happened. In order to
appreciate the fish, the reader must see and feel the fish the same way as the fisherman. Since
Bishop wrote "The Fish" in first person, audiences can see the images of the fish that go through the
fisherman's mind and lead to a better understanding of the fish. The poem is not about the fisherman
who catches the fish, but about the difficult ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The first image Bishop uses to exaggerate the fish is when the fish allowed the fisherman to bring it
from the water. "He didn't fight. / He hadn't fought at all". In this image Bishop illustrates the
unusual serenity of the fish by writing that the fish had not wrestled against the fisherman. It had
given the fisherman the opportunity to kill it by putting its own life in the hands of the fisherman.
This image is emphasized when the surprised fisherman repeats herself twice that the fish did not
fight. This is the first clue in the poem that humans forget about what nature is skillful

The Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop
The Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop:
A Personal Response
In my answer I will be talking about my ideas on the themes, styles, and images in the poetry of
Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth Bishop was born on the 8th of February 1911 in Worcester,
Massachusetts. Her father died when she was eight months old and her mother, in shock, was sent to
a mental hospital for five years. They were separated in 1916 until her mother finally died in 1934.
She was raised by her grandparents in Nova Scotia.
There are four main themes in the poetry of Bishop. These include nature, childhood,
domesticity/motherhood, and the resilience of the human spirit. The two poems I will be discussing
about in my answer related to the following themes are 'Sestina' and 'The ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
I think that the tears are from the lack of the grandmother's children, the child's mother. Maybe that's
the unspoken reason.
The second poem I will be discussing is 'The Filling Station'. In this poem I will be discussing the
theme of domesticity/motherhood. I think it is the domestic details that fascinate the poet in this
poem. I think so because the poet seems to write in a lot of detail about the domestic items in the
"little, filling station". Instead of saying it's an oily filling station, she describes it further in saying
it's "oil–soaked, oil–permeated to a disturbing, over–all black translucency". This is one example of
her in–depth detail of the filling station in the poem.
The two things in which she goes into extreme detail in are the "doily" and the "plant". She becomes
very interested in these two domestic objects because they greatly contrast the atmosphere which the
poet saw the filling station to be, "somebody embroidered the doily. Somebody waters the plant, or
oils it maybe." This shows how interested the poet was in these two objects. I understand the
"somebody" in stanza six to be a caring mother. This may be linked to Bishop's personal life in that
she lost her own mother and is longing for a caring mother figure in her life, or, at least, in her life
as a child. The realisation that the mother isn't to be seen happens gradually as we see that it's a
family filling station and that there is wicker

Analysis of Elizabeth Bishops the Moose
Elizabeth Bishop"'"s '"'The Moose'"' is a narrative poem of 168 lines. Its twenty–eight six–line
stanzas are not rigidly structured. Lines vary in length from four to eight syllables, but those of five
or six syllables predominate. The pattern of stresses is lax enough almost to blur the distinction
between verse and prose; the rhythm is that of a low–keyed speaking voice hovering over the
descriptive details. The eyewitness account is meticulous and restrained.
The poem concerns a bus traveling to Boston through the landscape and towns of New Brunswick.
While driving through the woods, the bus stops because a moose has wandered onto the road. The
appearance of the animal interrupts the peaceful hum of elderly passengers"'" voices. ... Show more
Thus the first part, devoted to the landscape, is richly descriptive, replete with qualifying epithets
that, toward the end (in line 75 and in line 81), come in by threes, like beads on a string. In the
second part, dealing with the passengers"'" plight, learned, latinate words such as '"'divagation,'"'
'"'auditory,'"' '"'hallucination,'"' '"'eternity,'"' and '"'acceptance'"' signal the presence of the narrator–
commentator. In the third part—the one reserved for the moose—epithets return. In the climactic
twenty–fourth stanza, the most distinctly poetic devices—explicit comparisons—are bestowed on the
protagonist: '"'high as a church,/ homely as a house.'"' Moreover, the four additional epithets
lavished on the moose contribute to the grandeur of its appearance: '"'towering, antlerless,'"' and
'"'grand, otherworldly.'"'
By careful calibration and timing of her tropes, Bishop succeeds superbly in achieving her ends.
Contrast is attained by her control over all compartments of language, and her austere, restrained
tone and strategy of deferral and understatement are dramatically effective.
Themes and Meanings '"'The Moose'"' is ultimately about the human need to be purged and, if
possible, cured of selfhood. Self–absorption or narcissism is not only a passing malaise afflicting
teenagers. Older people regard themselves in the mirror of their

Life And Writing Of Elizabeth Bishop
When telling someone else's story – perhaps even one's own – it is hard not to do so from a certain
perspective or position. Two recent films whose subject is the poet Elizabeth Bishop provide
examples of distinct storytelling approaches: the first, a documentary with a particular political
slant; the second, a semi–fictionalized biopic that is a little fast and loose with facts and chronology.
With some anticipation I and my wife went to see "Welcome to This House" (2015), Barbara
Hammer's film about poet Elizabeth Bishop through the lens of her various domiciles. I expected an
exploration into the meaning and impact of those homes on Bishop's life and writing, but I was
disappointed.
Displaced most of her life, place became important ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This distracts us from the real power Bishop's homes had on her, especially the Great Village house,
with its famous scream from her short story, "In the Village," but also the house in the Brazilian
mountains north of Rio, Samambaia, which Lota designed and built and into which she and Bishop
moved in 1952.
"Samambaia became her true home," novelist William Boyd noted in the Guardian a few years ago.
She wrote many of her most famous poems in the house and in the little studio Lota built for her on
its grounds and when she lost it after Lota's death (Lota bequeathed it to Mary Morse, about whom
I'll say more below); Bishop lost more than a house.
As Boyd writes, "Bishop's eventual departure from the place that she had loved, and that made her
as a poet, was fraught, shaming and embittering."
To focus on Bishop's alleged affairs as Hammer does lends nothing to our understanding of the poet
or her poetry. Bishop led, as Boyd asserts, "a life of profound emotional and intellectual
complexity." Reducing Bishop's life to sexual pursuits or conquests that may or may not have taken
place in these houses totally misses the mark and makes the film a sort of agenda vehicle rather than
documentary.
If only this film focused instead on the conflict Bishop felt between her

Suffering InOne Art, By Elizabeth Bishop

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Suffering InOne Art, By Elizabeth Bishop