Elizabeth Bishop poetry quotes

The Prodigal

1. Quote: “The floor was rotten; the sty / was plastered halfway up with glass-smooth dung.”

   • Meaning: This line captures the squalor of the prodigal’s living conditions, reflecting themes of degradation and self-loathing.

2. Quote: “He hid the pints behind a two-by-four.”

   • Meaning: Bishop suggests the prodigal’s struggle with addiction and his shame, hiding his alcoholism from others and himself.

3. Quote: “But it took him a long time / finally to make his mind up to go home.”

   • Meaning: The poem ends with a glimmer of hope and redemption, suggesting that the journey toward self-acceptance and change is a difficult one.

The Fish

1. Quote: “I caught a tremendous fish / and held him beside the boat.”

   • Meaning: This line introduces the fish and its monumental presence, setting up a tone of awe and admiration.

2. Quote: “He hung a grunting weight, / battered and venerable / and homely.”

   • Meaning: Bishop describes the fish with a sense of respect and reverence, emphasizing its resilience and dignity despite its worn appearance.

3. Quote: “until everything / was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! / And I let the fish go.”

   • Meaning: This line reflects a moment of transcendence and beauty that leads the speaker to release the fish, symbolizing compassion and a deeper understanding of life.

At the Fishhouses

1. Quote: “Cold dark deep and absolutely clear, / element bearable to no mortal.”

   • Meaning: Bishop’s description of the sea conveys its intimidating beauty and symbolizes the unattainable purity of knowledge or truth.

2. Quote: “If you should dip your hand in, / your wrist would ache immediately.”

   • Meaning: The physical reaction to the icy water represents the sharp and often painful nature of insight or understanding.

3. Quote: “It is like what we imagine knowledge to be: / dark, salt, clear, moving, utterly free.”

   • Meaning: Bishop draws a metaphor between the ocean and knowledge, suggesting that true understanding is elusive, vast, and difficult to grasp.

Filling Station

1. Quote: “Oh, but it is dirty! / this little filling station.”

   • Meaning: The poem opens with the speaker’s critical view of the station, setting up a contrast between dirtiness and unexpected warmth.

2. Quote: “Somebody embroidered the doily. / Somebody waters the plant.”

   • Meaning: These details hint at care and affection, revealing an underlying theme of love and humanity in unexpected places.

3. Quote: “Somebody loves us all.”

   • Meaning: The poem concludes with a powerful affirmation of universal love and compassion, suggesting that even in mundane, grimy places, there is evidence of care.

Sestina

1. Quote: “September rain falls on the house.”

   • Meaning: The poem opens with a somber, reflective mood, setting the scene for themes of loss, memory, and familial sorrow.

2. Quote: “the child / draws a rigid house / and a winding pathway.”

   • Meaning: The child’s drawing reflects her attempt to make sense of a complex, emotionally fraught world, embodying innocence in the face of confusion.

3. Quote: “Time to plant tears, says the almanac.”

   • Meaning: This personification suggests that sorrow and hardship are inevitable, as if part of a natural cycle, hinting at themes of fate and inevitability.

First Death in Nova Scotia

1. Quote: “In the cold, cold parlor / my mother laid out Arthur.”

   • Meaning: The repetition of "cold" emphasizes the chilling, somber atmosphere and introduces the child's encounter with death.

2. Quote: “He was all white, like a doll / that hadn’t been painted yet.”

   • Meaning: Bishop conveys the innocence and strangeness of death through a child’s perspective, viewing Arthur almost as an unfinished or inanimate object.

3. Quote: “But how could Arthur go, / clutching his tiny lily, / with his eyes shut up so tight?”

   • Meaning: The child’s confusion about death and the finality of it reflects the emotional distance and incomprehensibility of mortality for a young mind.