The Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop - 1680 Words

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†¦I think that the tears are from the lack of the grandmothers children, the childs mother. Maybe thats 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 â€Å"little, filling station†. Instead of saying it’s an oily filling station, she describes it further in saying it’s â€Å"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 â€Å"doily† and the â€Å"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, â€Å"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 â€Å"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 wickerShow MoreRelatedThe Poetry Of Elizabeth Bishop1162 Words   |  5 Pages 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 differentRead MoreWriting Poetry Is An Unnatural Act, By Elizabeth Bishop2132 Words   |  9 PagesWriting poetry is an unnatural act,† said Elizabeth Bishop. â€Å"It takes great skill to make it seem natural.† Part of developing that skill is about paying attention -- and I think we’d all agree, paying attention in the age of distraction is hard. There is a myriad of distractions every minute: the latest bombastic tweet by our deranged president; someone posting a beautiful plate of food on Instagram; or the onslaught of Facebook posts showing all your poet-friends and acquaintances meeting-upRead MoreThe Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, and How it Connects to Her Life781 Words   |  4 PagesElizabeth Bishop’s poetry has many characteristics that make it appealing. 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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 motherRead MoreA Comparison Between Elizabeth Bishop And James Wright1440 Words   |  6 PagesSephora Solomon Professor Wojahn Poetry ENGL 345 29 October 2017 First Paper: Elizabeth Bishop, James Wright comparison As masters of imagery, both Elizabeth Bishop and James Wright composed vivid poetry as a road map to a significant closing. Bishop and Wright often opted to dramatic gestures or statements at the closing of their poems rather than the predictable expected metaphor. Use of dramatization leaves the reader with complete understanding of the narrative’s key message. 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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 intoRead MoreEssay about Elizabeth Bishops One Art1284 Words   |  6 PagesConsidered by many as a poet for poets, Elizabeth Bishop was one of the most refined voices of the American poetry of the last century. She was known as one of the best female American poets of the contemporary period famous for her style patent with simplicity and precision. Her work was famous for disclosing the mysteries of her personal life by cleverly chosen representations. In her very-famous villanelle, â€Å"One Art,† Bishop’s tone seems relaxed at first impression, yet the reader can later