Elizabeth Bishop

The Fish

Based on Bishops time in Florida where she took up fishing, in this poem she reflects on one of the few times she actually managed to catch one. However, after looking into the fishes eyes she begins to see herself, and she eventually releases it. In doing so, she perhaps regains some control over her own life.

Quotes:

  • ‘I caught a tremendous fish’ - Bishop relishes in her catch

  • ‘He did not fight, he hadn’t fought at all’ - showcases Bishop’s lack of fight in her own life against circumstances, she begins to see herself in the fish

  • ‘His brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper’ - the fish is old, clearly so

  • ‘And then I saw’ - moment of realisation

  • ‘Like medals with their ribbons, frayed and wavering, a five haired beard of wisdom’- The fish wears the remnants of previous catches like medals of achievement. He’s described as old and wise and almost soldier like, like he’s been through a war

  • ‘And so I let the fish go’ - Bishop, seeing the struggle he’s been through, sets him off. She grants the fish the many chances she was grateful to have been given

Questions of Travel

The poem is divided into two halves, with the first being about Bishops dislike of Brazil. She has a very cynical view towards travel, but things change in the next half. She has a far more positive view, but still wonders why people bother travel in the first place

Quotes;

  • ‘Those mile long, shiny tearstains’ - the rivers sweeping Brazil reflects her sadness

  • ‘Should we not have stayed at home and thought of here?’ - Bishop wonders why anyone would bother travelling

  • ‘The sad, two noted, wooden tune of clogs carelessly clacking’ - the clogs here are imperfectly made and yet still beautiful'

  • ‘Oh, must we dream our dreams an dream them too?’ - despite her new enjoyment of Brazil, she still wonders why they people want to travel

  • ‘Should we have stayed at home, wherever that may be?’ - showcases her longing for a home

The Prodigal

The poem details Bishops struggles with alcoholism as represented though the biblical figure of the Prodigal Son. She’s living in a barn amongst animals, and the poem describes her feelings of shame before finally deciding to return home.

Quotes;

  • ‘The brown enormous odor he lived by was too close, with its thick hair, for him to judge’ - the pigs he lives next to are disgusting, but he’s sunk to their level and so cannot judge

  • ‘He hid the pints behind a two-by-four’ - showcases his, and Bishops, shame when it comes to the drink. They know it’s wrong

  • ‘And he thought he almost might endure his exile yet another year more’ - he’s so use to this life he struggles to leave

  • ‘Safe and companionable as in the ark’ - the animals are warm and comfortable, unlike the prodigal. He’s slightly jealous

  • ‘It took him a long time finally to make up his mind to go home’ - after a long time he decides to return home

Sestina

The poem is set in Bishops childhood, while she lives with her maternal grandparents. While her grandmother in particular tries to give her a sense of normalcy, it’s clear that the young Bishop was well aware of her situation. The poems tone is ominous, warning of more tragedy to come

Quotes;

  • ‘September rain falls on the house’ - the poems setting is dark and dreary, echoing the general tone

  • ‘Reading the jokes from the almanac, talking and laughing to hide her tears’ - the grandmother is trying her hardest to maintain a sense of normalcy in the girls life, she tries to be strong for her

  • ‘But the child is watching the teakettles small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove’ - despite the sheltering her grandmother is trying to do, young Bishop is well aware of her mothers condition

  • ‘‘‘It was to be’ says the little Marvel Stove, ‘I know what I know’ says the almanac’ - the tragedy seems to be foretold, and the family is doomed to it

  • ‘Time to plant tears’ says the almanac’ - the almanac hints towards more terrors to come to the family

  • ‘The grandmother sings over the marvelous stove, and the child draws another inscrutable house’ - the family tries to get back to normal, despite the circumstances

Filling Station

While on her travels, Bishop stopped at a small filling station. While at first she harshly judges the family, she then realises that despite their circumstances, they have the one thing she’s always longed for; a mother.

Quotes;

  • ‘"Oh, but it is dirty! This little filling station’ - Bishop is in horror of the filthy surroundings

  • ‘Father wears a dirty, oil-soaked monkey suit that cuts him under the arms’ - she clearly dislikes the family, going so far as to insult the fathers weight

  • ‘Why the extraneous plant? Why the taboret? Why, oh why, the doily?’ - she wonders why a place like this has items there purely for aesthetics, it clearly wasn’t done by the man or his sons

  • ‘Somebody embroidered the doily. Somebody waters the plant, or oils it, maybe’ - she knows now that there’s a woman behind the scenes, someone who is able to tend to the house

  • ‘Somebody loves us all’ - despite who this family are, how dirty or poor they may be, they still have someone who loves them dearly.