"Sestina" - Elizabeth Bishop

"September rain falls on the house"

Pathetic fallacy, gloomy weather reflects the dark, depressing atmosphere in the house

"The old grandmother sits in the kitchen with the child"

Grandmother and child in kitchen

"Laughing and talking to hide her tears"

Reference to laughter is lighthearted but mention of tears reminds us of the mood

"The child is watching the teakettle's small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove"

Perspective of child, senses grandmother is upset, pathetic fallacy and personification

"Birdlike, the almanac/ hovers half open above the child,/ hovers above the old grandmother”

Almanac depicted as bird, threatening

"It was to be, says the Marvel Stove./ I know what I know, says the almanac"

Personification, role of fantasy is important for the young Bishop as she tries to cope

"Then the child puts in a man with buttons like tears"

Father and mother both absent from her life, draws a man in the picture

"The little moons fall down like tears"

Tried to draw the perfect family however even the objects in the picture are upset

"Time to plant tears, says the almanac"

Is she buying her grief? Perhaps if she plants her tears and grief it will grow into something better? Or it may remain with her forever?

"The child draws another inscrutable house"

Mysterious and incomprehensible, suggests sorrow will stay with child for the rest of her life