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BISHOP IDENTITY LOSS LIFE CHILDHOOD

Widely regarded as one of the most impor tant Amer ican poets of

the twent ieth centur y, E l i zabeth B ishop led a ver y turbu lent l i fe .

She moved f rom p lace to p lace , s t r ugg led wi th a lcohol i sm and

exper ienced hear tbreak ing losses . However, desp i te the t r ag ic

c i rcumstances of her l i fe , she managed to produce a s t r ik ing ,

cr a f ted and id iosyncr at ic body of poetr y. Her poems are defined

by a per fect ion of tone , a h igh ly re f ined degree of v i sua l accur acy

and mora l , h i s tor ica l , soc ia l and psycholog ica l ins ights that have

compel led the at tent ion of gener at ions of reader s . In the ear ly

s tages of her career, B i shop was regarded (and somet imes

d i smissed) as a ‘min iatur i s t ’ , or someone who concentr ates on

smal l poet ic s t r uctures and descr ipt ive deta i l . However, the

care fu l reader of her poetr y wi l l not ice that her wor k i s by and

lar ge confess iona l .Whi le her l i fe s tor y i s char ted in her poetr y,

her approach i s an unusua l one .Most of the poems on the cour se

nomina l ly address and descr ibe seeming ly un impor tant sub jects ,

such as a f i l l ing s tat ion , a tour i s t dest inat ion and a f i sh , to name

but a few. However, these are a lways re la ted in such a manner as

to prov ide profound ly thought-provok ing ins ights on l i fe . A

natur a l shyness kept B i shop out of the l imel ight , yet desp i te th i s ,

her wor k has s tead i ly grown in popular i ty, so much so that i t i s

now imposs ible to imag ine a co l lect ion of Eng l i sh poetr y that

does not conta in a poem by E l i zabeth B ishop. Given that her

wor k re f lects so intense ly on l i fe , i t can prove cha l leng ing , though

once th i s cha l lenge i s met , the rewards outweigh any d i f f i cu l t ies

the reader may exper ience .

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ord

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

At The F i shhouses 4

Commentar y 9

El i zabeth B ishop Sample Essay 14

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At The Fishhouses ________________________________________________________________________

Although i t i s a co ld even ing ,

down by one of the f i shhouses

an o ld man s i t s nett ing ,

his net , in the g loaming a lmost inv i s ible ,

a dar k purp le-brown, 5

and h i s shutt le worn and pol i shed .

The a i r smel l s so s t rong of codfi sh

i t makes one ’s nose r un and one ’s eyes water.

The f ive f i shhouses have s teep ly peaked roofs

and nar row, c leated gangp lanks s lant up 10

to s torerooms in the gables

for the wheelbar rows to be pushed up and down on .

Al l i s s i l ver : the heavy sur face of the sea ,

swel l ing s lowly as i f cons ider ing sp i l l ing over,

i s opaque , but the s i l ver of the benches , 15

the lobster pots , and masts , scat tered

among the wi ld jagged rocks ,

i s o f an apparent t r ans lucence

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l i ke the smal l o ld bu i ld ings wi th an emera ld moss

growing on the i r shoreward wal l s . 20

The b ig f i sh tubs are complete ly l ined

with layer s of beaut i fu l her r ing sca les

and the wheelbar rows are s imi lar ly p las tered

with creamy i r idescent coats of mai l ,

with smal l i r idescent f l ies cr awl ing on them. 25

Up on the l i t t le s lope beh ind the houses ,

set in the spar se br ight spr ink le of gr ass ,

i s an anc ient wooden capstan ,

cr acked , wi th two long bleached handles

and some melancholy s ta ins , l i ke dr ied blood, 30

where i ronwor k has r usted .

The o ld man accepts a Lucky Str ike .

He was a f r iend of my gr andfather.

We ta lk of the dec l ine in the populat ion

and of codfi sh and her r ing 35

whi le he wai ts for a her r ing boat to come in .

There are sequ ins on h i s vest and on h i s thumb.

He has scr aped the sca les , the pr inc ipa l beauty,

f rom unnumbered f i sh wi th that black o ld kn i fe ,

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Down at the water ’s edge , a t the p lace

where they hau l up the boats , up the long r amp

descending into the water, th in s i l ver

t ree t r unks are la id hor izonta l ly

across the gr ay s tones , down and down 45

at inter va l s o f four or f i ve feet .

Cold dar k deep and abso lute ly c lear,

element bear able to no mor ta l ,

to f i sh and to sea l s … One sea l par t icu lar ly

I have seen here even ing a f ter even ing . 50

He was cur ious about me . He was interested in mus ic ;

l i ke me a be l iever in tota l immer s ion ,

so I used to s ing h im Bapt i s t hymns .

I a l so sang “A Mighty For tress I s Our God.”

He stood up in the water and regarded me 55

s tead i ly, moving h i s head a l i t t le .

Then he would d i sappear, then suddenly emerge

a lmost in the same spot , wi th a sor t of shr ug

as i f i t were aga inst h i s better judgment .

Cold dar k deep and abso lute ly c lear, 60

the c lear gr ay icy water … Back , beh ind us ,

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Blu i sh , assoc iat ing wi th the i r shadows ,

a mi l l ion Chr i s tmas t rees s tand

wait ing for Chr i s tmas . The water seems suspended 70

above the rounded gr ay and blue-gr ay s tones .

I have seen i t over and over, the same sea , the same ,

s l i ght ly, ind i f ferent ly swing ing above the s tones ,

i c i ly f ree above the s tones ,

above the s tones and then the wor ld . 75

I f you should d ip your hand in ,

your wr i s t would ache immediate ly,

your bones would beg in to ache and your hand would burn

as i f the water were a t r ansmutat ion of f i re

that feeds on s tones and burns wi th a dar k gr ay f l ame . 80

I f you tasted i t , i t would f i r s t tas te b i t ter,

then br iny, then sure ly burn your tongue .

I t i s l i ke what we imag ine knowledge to be :

dar k , sa l t , c lear moving , ut ter ly f ree ,

drawn f rom the co ld hard mouth 85

of the wor ld , der ived f rom the rocky breasts

forever, f lowing and dr awn, and s ince

our knowledge i s h i s tor ica l , f lowing , and f low

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4 g loaming – twi l i ght , dusk

6 shut t le – th i s i s a spec i f i c re ference to a dev ice in weav ing that ho lds the weft thread and i s used to pass i t between the warp threads .

10 c leated – hav ing wooden or other wedges at tached to the s t r ucture in order to a l low one to ga in a foothold .

10 gangp lank – usua l ly a por table s t r ucture such as a br idge or p lank used when board ing or d i sembar k ing f rom a boat .

15 opaque – not t r ansparent or imper v ious to l i ght so that images cannot be seen through i t .

18 t ra n s l u c en c e – a l l ow i n g l i g h t t o p a s s through , but on ly d i f fuse ly, so that ob jects on the other s ide cannot be c lear ly d i s t ingu ished . The word can a l so mean hav ing a sh in ing appear ance .

22 herr ing – a smal l ed ible f i sh wi th s i l ver y sca les .

24 i r idescent – hav ing a lustrous or br i l l i ant appear ance or qua l i ty, o f ten in the co lour s of the r a inbow.

28 capstan – a type of cr ane cons i s t ing of a ver t ica l dr um around which a cable i s wound. Th is dev ice i s normal ly used to move heavy weights or to hau l in ropes on a sh ip.

32 Lucky St r ike – a wel l -known br and of Amer ican c igaret tes .

37 sequ ins – br ight , o f ten go ld ornamentat ion such a s wou ld be found on a d re s s o r mater ia l .

52 to ta l immer s ion – invo lvement in someth ing that complete ly occupies a l l one ’s ener gy and concent r a t ion . Here the poet i s re fe r r ing d i rect ly to the method of bapt i sm pr act i sed by the Bapt i s t denominat ion of Protestant i sm.

53 Bapt i s t – a Protestant denominat ion that bapt i ses people by tota l immer s ion when they are o ld enough to under stand and dec lare the i r fa i th .

74 t ransmutat ion – a change f rom one form, substance , nature or s tate to another. Th is word has s t rong re l ig ious connotat ions for Chr i s t ians .

77 br iny – tast ing sa l ty or tas t ing l i ke sea

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Glossary

Commentary ________________________________________________________________________

1. Content

When she had f in i shed wr i t ing ‘A t the F i shhouses ’ , B i shop r a i sed her arms

above her head in t r iumph. More than any other poem by B ishop on the cour se ,

‘At the F i shhouses ’ prov ides us

wi th a per fect example of her

mature s ty le . Th is i s a complex

p i e c e t h a t d e m a n d s c l o s e

a t t e n t i o n a n d c o n s i d e r a t i o n

f rom i t s reader s . The poem is

b r o k e n i n t o t h r e e d i s t i n c t

segments that are separ ated by

a l ine wr i t ten in per fect iambic

p e n t a m e t e r. I n t h e o p e n i n g

sect ion of the poem, the poet prov ides a deta i led and object ive descr ipt ion of an

o ld f i sherman, the Nova Scot ia shore l ine and the par apherna l ia o f the f i sh ing

t r ade . Fo l lowing a shor t second sect ion , we enter the th i rd , more problemat ic

segment of the poem. Wr i t ten for the most par t in s t ream of consc iousness , the

speaker prov ides us wi th a pass ionate descr ipt ion of the ocean at the same t ime

she enter s a moment of intense sub ject ive medi tat ion .

The poem opens , much l i ke a camera coming into focus , by care fu l ly set t ing

the scene .We learn that even though i t i s co ld , ‘an o ld man s i t s net t ing , | h i s net ,

in the g loaming a lmost inv i s ib le .’ The depict ion i s a t imeless one which evokes a

sense of cont inu i ty wi th a van ish ing way of l i fe . The f i sherman cont inues h i s wor k

to the backdrop of the set t ing sun and ‘ the f i shhouses w i th the i r s teep ly peaked

roofs | and narrow, c leated gangp lanks s lant up | to s torerooms .’ The ent i re scene i s

bordered by the sea , which i s ‘swe l l ing s lowly as i f cons ider ing sp i l l ing over ’ and i s

bathed in a ‘s l i ver ’ l i ght . For a br ie f moment i t i s as i f the speaker becomes

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t r ans f ixed by the movement of the sea . However, she forces her at tent ion away

f rom the sea to focus on ‘ the benches ’ , ‘ l obs ter pots ’ , ‘masts ’ and ‘ smal l o ld

bu i ld ings ’ . In typ ica l B i shop fash ion , the speaker beg ins to concentr ate on the

minute deta i l s to be found on these var ious ob jects . She not ices that :

The b ig f i sh tubs are complete l y l ined

with layer s o f beaut i fu l herr ing sca les

The a lmost microscopic examinat ion of the scene cont inues when the speaker

te l l s us that the wheelbar rows are a l so l ined with ‘creamy i r idescent coats o f mai l

and smal l i r idescent f l i es .’ The p icture that the poet has pa inted i s completed

when she descr ibes the area ‘beh ind the houses .’ We learn that there i s an ‘anc ient

wooden capstan .’ I t s two long ‘b leached hand les ’ a re s ta ined . The r usted i ronwor k

i s l i kened by the poet to ‘dr ied b lood ’ .

There i s a s l i ght change in d i rect ion in the poem when the speaker

addresses the o ld man.We learn that th i s man was a f r iend of her gr andfather.

The i r conver sat ion centres on the dec l ine in the populat ion , and codfi sh and

her r ing . Once aga in , B i shop’s at tent ion i s dr awn f rom the sur face deta i l s to the

minut iae of her sur roundings . She not ices the ‘sequ ins ’ on the o ld man’s vest and

‘ thumb ’ and in the process beg ins to th ink about count less f i sh that th i s man has

‘scraped ’ w i th the worn blade of h i s ‘b lack o ld kn i fe ’ . As the poem progresses i t i s

as i f the poet i s dr awn c loser and c loser to the sea ’s edge . In l ine 40 , which mar ks

the beg inn ing of the shor t second sect ion of the poem, a percept ible sh i f t occur s .

The speaker descr ibes the area near the ‘water ’s edge […] where they hau l up the

boats ’ . In a s low, measured fash ion her at tent ion i s dr awn ‘down and down ’ towards

the water. L ine 47 mar ks the beg inn ing of the th i rd sect ion of the poem, which

most reader s f ind cha l leng ing . I t opens wi th a descr ipt ion of the water, which i s

seen by the speaker as be ing :

Cold dark deep and abso lute l y c lear,

e lement bearab le to no mor ta l ,

to f i sh and to sea l s […]

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The sea has long been v iewed as a metaphor for human consc iousness , and as the

speaker i s dr awn to the water ’s edge , she beg ins what wi l l amount to a deeply

introspect ive medi tat ion on knowledge and the nature of ident i ty. Not ic ing a sea l

that she has seen ‘even ing af ter even ing ’ , she revea ls that the creature was

inqu is i t i ve about her and s t r ange ly that , much l i ke her, he be l ieved ‘ i n bapt i sm by

‘ to ta l immer s ion ’ . As the sea l seems interested in mus ic , ‘ she used to s ing h im

Bapt i s t hymns ’ , in par t icu lar ‘A Mighty For t ress I s Our God ’ . The sea l ’s react ion i s to

regard the speaker s tead i ly. Disappear ing momentar i ly, on ly to ‘emerge a lmost in

the same spot ’ , he ‘shrugs as i f i t were aga ins t h i s bet ter judgement ’ . Meanwhi le , the

speaker seems to remain t r ans f ixed by the water. She repeats her in i t ia l

impress ion that i t i s ‘Cold dark deep and abso lute l y c lear ’ .

For a br ie f per iod , in l ine 60 , the poet g ives cons ider at ion to the landscape

beh ind her. Here the d ign i f ied f i r t rees s tand as i f wa i t ing for the ar r iva l o f

Chr i s tmas . However, before she becomes too d is t r acted by th i s , her gaze returns

to the sea :

The water seems suspended

above the rounded gray and b lue -gray s tones .

This sur face descr ipt ion of the sea y ie lds to a more deta i led examinat ion of the

nature of the water i t se l f . In the poet ’s v iew, the water i s a t r ansmutat ion of f i re

that would cause one ’s hand to burn and one ’s wr i s t to ache . These l ines , which

most reader s f ind ver y d i f f i cu l t to dec ipher, become c learer when the speaker

te l l s us that she ident i f ies these proper t ies wi th knowledge i t se l f . A l l o f th i s i s

what we imag ine knowledge to be :

dark , sa l t , c lear, mov ing , u t ter l y f ree ,

drawn f rom the co ld hard mouth

of the wor ld , der i ved f rom the rocky breasts .

forever, f low ing and drawn, and s ince

our knowledge i s h i s tor i ca l , f low ing , and f lown.

L ike the water s that enc i rc le the wor ld , knowledge i t se l f i s cont inua l ly moving and

f lowing . A l l knowledge i s indeed h i s tor ica l , as i t i s based on the learn ing and � Cian Hogan English Notes 2014 11

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ef for ts of those who have gone before us . I t i s d i f f i cu l t not to be impressed by

the sheer ar t i s t i c beauty and metaphor ica l in tens i ty of these l ines .

2 . Sty l i s t i c Features

Poets as d iver se as John Ashber y, James Mer r i l l , C .K .Wi l l i ams and Jor ie

Graham have named B ishop as a major in f luence on the i r wor k . They var ious ly

have pr a i sed her per fect ion of tone , her soc ia l , mora l and psycholog ica l ins ights ,

her v i sua l accur acy and her formal invent ion . Al l o f these char acter i s t i cs are

present in ‘At the F i shhouses ’ . Even a cur sor y read ing of th i s poem suggests to the

reader that i t conta ins a complex ph i losophica l medi tat ion on the nature of

knowledge . In the opening ha l f o f the poem, the poet presents the reader wi th a

h igh ly ob ject ive account of the Nova Scot ia coast l ine . In doing so, she appea ls to

a l l t he senses . I t i s impor tan t to rea l i s e tha t these de ta i l s c rea te the

precondi t ions for what Seamus Heaney has descr ibed as the ‘ rhy thmic heave ’ that

occur s in l ine 46 . The r usted i ronwor k , the anc ient wooden capstan and the o ld

man who knew the speaker ’s gr andfather create an unconsc iousness awareness in

her mind of the h i s tor ica l nature of knowledge . Thus , as the speaker takes in the

scene and ta lks to a man who knew her dead gr andfather, she i s made aware that

a l l l i fe i s t r ans i tor y and that gener at ions come and go. Fur thermore , knowledge ,

which wi l l become the centr a l theme of the poem, i s a l luded to in the encounter

wi th th i s man .We learn that he was a ‘ f r iend of [her] grandfather ’ , that he has

seen a ‘dec l ine in the popu lat ion ’ and that he has scr aped ‘ the pr inc ipa l beauty f rom

unnumbered f i sh ’ .

In l ine 46 , the luc id and v iv id awareness that has char acter i sed the f i r s t

sect ion of th i s complex poem g ives way to a more d isconnected s t ream of

thought . Once aga in , i t i s impor tant to s t ress that a l though a c lear d i s t inct ion

ex is ts between the f i r s t and th i rd segments of the poem, they are in fact

connected . With thoughts of the past , her ‘grandfather ’ and ‘ the dec l ine in the

popu lat ion ’ on her mind , the poet becomes mesmer ised by the sea . Beaut i fu l ly

evoked in the opening l ines of the poem where B ishop echoes the long ‘o ’ o f

‘a l though ’ w i th the broad ‘o ’ o f ‘g loaming ’ , ‘co ld ’ and ‘o ld ’ , the sea now takes on a � Cian Hogan English Notes 2014 12

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symbol ic va lue . I t comes to represent knowledge in gener a l and in Seamus

Heaney ’s est imat ion h ints at the ‘ reb i r th o f a re l i g ious impu lse ’ in a secu lar wor ld .

Whi le i t i s ver y d i f f i cu l t to untang le the poet ’s t r a in of thought in these l ines , a

d i scernable pattern does emerge upon c loser read ing . The sea comes to represent

the unknown and , in some respects , the unknowable . Re l ig ion , which once

prov ided many of the answer s to the more ph i losophica l quest ions that l i fe poses ,

has been rep laced by co ld reason in the twent ieth centur y. In the poem, the

t r ad i t iona l symbols o f re l ig ion and Chr i s t ian i ty are e i ther rep laced or pushed to

the background:

Back beh ind us […] | […] assoc ia t ing w i th the i r shadows ,

a mi l l i on Chr i s tmas t rees s tand

wai t ing for Chr i s tmas .

As Chr i s t ian hymns enter the poet ’s mind , she i s not greeted by some d iv ine

creature , but more amus ing ly by an ord inar y sea l . Rather than concentr ate on the

unknowable , imponderable and myst ica l quest ions that have been the preser ve of

Chr i s t ian i ty, the poet chooses to examine knowledge and reason . The ocean

prov ides her wi th a f i t t ing symbol for knowledge . L ike knowledge , i t i s in

cont inua l f lux , a lways moving a lways chang ing . In Peter Denman’s v iew, ‘ the poem

ends w i th a magn i f i cent specu lat ion on the nature o f knowledge . How do we know

what we know? How do we ho ld on to exper ience? ’ The poet fee l s that , l i ke the co ld

water, a l l knowledge comes at a pr ice . Learn ing i s a d i f f i cu l t process that at f i r s t

tas tes b i t ter and i s o f ten pa in fu l . Human knowledge i s a lways cont ingent upon the

ach ievements of our ancestor s . In th i s sense , the poet i s v ind icated in fee l ing that

a l l knowledge i s h i s tor ica l .

3 . Essay Wr i t ing

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‘At the F i shhouses ’ i s perhaps E l i zabeth B ishop’s best -known and most memorable

poem. As such , i t i s wor thy of inc lus ion in any per sona l response to B ishop that

you may be asked to make . I f you dec ide to inc lude th i s poem, t r y to bear the

fo l lowing points in mind .

a . The poem prov ides us wi th a complex commentar y on the nature of

knowledge .

b. Th is i s a h igh ly cr a f ted poem that dr aws on many language dev ices in order to

enhance i t s rhythmic e f fect .

c . The leve l o f deta i l in the poem is typ ica l o f B i shop’s poetr y in gener a l . Make

sure you under stand how deta i led descr ipt ions in the f i r s t ha l f o f the poem

re in force the ph i losophica l medi tat ion that takes p lace in the f ina l sect ion .

Elizabeth Bishop Sample Essay

‘E l i zabeth B ishop poses interest ing quest ions de l ivered by means of a un ique

s ty le .’

El i zabeth B ishop’s honest and engag ing poetr y poses interest ing quest ions

de l ivered by means of a un ique s ty le . Th is s ty le which i s accompl i shed yet subt le

enough to convey the s t rength of her emot ions in a manner that capt ivates , i s

used by B ishop to quest ion ideas about ident i ty, re l i g ion , home and even

knowledge i t se l f .

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eats

In more than one of the poems by B ishop, se lected for s tudy for the

Leav i n g Ce r t i f i c a t e cou r s e , we a r e p r e s en t ed w i t h deep and s e a r ch i n g

exp lor at ions of ch i ldhood. And f requent ly, these explor at ions resu l t in thought

provok ing and fasc inat ing quest ions about , amongst other th ings : the past ’s ab i l i ty

to impinge on the present , the meaning of home and the not ion of ident i ty.

Perhaps nowhere are such deep and search ing quest ions more obv ious than in the

poem, “Sest ina .” The poem is s t r uctured around the ver y e f fect ive conce i t o f a

ch i ld ’s dr awing . The opening l ines set the tone for the ent i re poem. In the dy ing

of the year, autumn ‘ r a in fa l l s on the house ’ . I t i s dar k in th i s house and the ‘o ld

gr andmother | s i t s in the k i tchen with the ch i ld ’ . Any hope of warmth suggested

by the “mar ve l s tove” , jokes and laugh ing i s qu ick ly d i spe l led in the f ina l l ine of

th i s f i r s t s tanza when the speaker te l l s us that the gr andmother i s mere ly

‘ l augh ing and ta lk ing to h ide her tear s ’ . The ent i re poem is s teeped in an

atmosphere of loss and sadness and one of B i shop ‘ s rea l ach ievements in

“Sest ina” i s the degree to which she makes use fee l th i s sadness . She defines her

gr ie f through a ser ies of prec i se and evocat ive ad ject ives : ‘ f a l l ing ’ , ‘ smal l ’ , ‘hard ’ ,

‘ r i g id ’ , ‘w ind ing ’ , ‘mar ve l lous ’ , ‘ inscr utable ’ . Fur thermore there i s a poignant

inev i tab i l i ty to the sadness that per vades the poem; because as the speaker te l l s

us , the ent i re scene was ‘known to a gr andmother ’ and ‘was to be ’ . However, in a

ver y interest ing manner that i s typ ica l o f B i shop’s un ique sty le , the s t r ic t use of

the sest ina form prevents th i s poem from becoming too sent imenta l . In th i s

manner, B i shop asks us to quest ion many un iver sa l concerns such as the degree to

which the the past creates the present , the not ion of ident i ty and of cour se what

const i tutes home .

S imi lar ly, in “F i r s t Death in Nova Scot ia” , B i shop’s ch i ldhood memor ies lead

us to interest ing and h igh ly char ged quest ions quest ions about death and the

a f ter- l i fe . Where “Sest ina” omits a mother f i gure , “F i r s t Death in Nova Scot ia”

l inks the mother to the ch i ld ’s f i r s t encounter wi th death .The poem, to ld ent i re ly

in the past tense , opens by te l l ing us that Ar thur was la id out in the ‘co ld , co ld

par lor ’ . The scene i s care fu l ly and v iv id ly depicted in the opening s tanza . The

body of the speaker ’s dead cous in Ar thur l ies beneath :

[…] the choromographs :

Edward Pr inces of Wales ,� Cian Hogan English Notes 2014 15

With Pr incess Alexandra ,

And K ing George wi th Queen Mar y.

Once aga in , B i shop’s s ty le i s dominated by a restr a ined s impl ic i ty to the language

that she uses . We learn that her dead cous in “Ar thur was ver y smal l ,” that “he

was a l l whi te l i ke a dol l ” and that “ Jack Frost had le f t h im whi te forever.” The

broad vowel sounds and predominance of co ld ad ject ives are juxtaposed in a

un ique way wi th the nur ser y rhyme- l ike rhythm to of fer a ch i l l ing g l impse of a

ch i ld ’s f i r s t encounter wi th death . In keeping wi th the empt iness we f ind in

“Sest ina ,” B i shop re fuses to prov ide any comfor t for the ch i ld . And yet whi le th i s

i s a genu ine ly sad poem to read , i t i s d i f f i cu l t not to be s t r uck by the fact that

“F i r s t Death in Nova Scot ia” leads us gent ly towards deep quest ions about where

the speaker ’s dead cous in i s go ing . Prepar ing to greet h im formal ly, the

assembled roya l ty are present in formal c lothes of ‘ red and ermine ’ . C lutch ing the

f lower that the speaker p laced in h i s hand , Ar thur i s forced to dec l ine the i r o f fer

to at tend the cour t : But how could Ar thur go,

with h i s eyes shut up so t ight

and the roads deep in snow?

The fact that B i shop fa i l s to of fer us the comfor t of an a f ter l i fe makes i t more

d i f f i cu l t to accept Ar thur ’s death . Ar thur i s not inv i ted to heaven r ather to

“cour t .” And in the end we are forced to ask our se lves i f there anyth ing beyond

death other than the cof f in for l i t t le Ar thur?

In many of the poems by B ishop on the cour se , she asks us to cons ider the

nature of ident i ty and how our ver y humani ty i s shaped by i t . Ver y of ten , as in

“Quest ions of Tr ave l” , the idea of the journey becomes a metaphor for the

explor at ion of the se l f . The obser vat ions of nature and the natur a l wor ld in th i s

poem are ver y interest ing because they take us beyond the postcard images of

mass tour i sm. In i t ia l ly, the reader i s presented wi th v iv id images of “crowded � Cian Hogan English Notes 2014 16

s t reams” , “ t rees” , “ the fa t brown b i rd” and “one more fo lded sunset” . However,

t he poe t ve r y qu i ck l y goes beyond these pos t ca rd images i n o rder to

acknowledge the intr ins ic va lue of t r ave l i t se l f . For B i shop, t r ave l invo lves

exp lor at ion and th i s exp lor at ion i s , in her est imat ion , “par t o f what i t i s to be

human” . She be l ieves that we are determined to “r ush to see the sun the other

way round” . And she even goes so far as to say that such tr ave l y ie lds powerfu l

ins ights into the human condi t ion . In the f ina l two stanzas of the poem, set of f in

I ta l i cs , B i shop reaches a profound conc lus ion . She d ismisses Pasca l ’s ideas about

t r ave l and f ina l ly she c la ims that the choice about who we are i s in rea l i ty never

made f ree ly :

Cont inent , c i ty, countr y, soc iety, the choice i s never wide

And never f ree .

Here B ishop examines , in a s imple and str a ight forward manner, some ver y

d i f f i cu l t concepts . The f ina l two l ines of the poem are both poignant , when

cons idered in the l i ght of B i shop’s nomadic l i fe , and search ing . The idea that she

should f ind the not ion of “home” perp lex ing , whi le ver y moving , i s a l so thought

provok ing ; because i t forces the reader to cons ider a l l the d i f ferent chance

c i rcumstances that contr ibute to the quest ion of ident i ty.

Bishop’s poems do not mere ly confine themselves to explor at ions of se l f

and ident i ty. She i s a l so a sk i l led obser ver and these obser vat ions f requent ly y ie ld

deeply ph i losophica l quest ions . One of the most interest ing s ty l i s t i c techn iques

that B i shop employs i s her tendency to make the fami l i a r look s t r ange and whi le

th i s o f cour se i s not un ique to her i t i s never the less ver y e f fect ive . For example ,

in “At The F i shhouses” the poem opens wi th a ver y fami l i a r set t ing on ly to y ie ld

to an a lmost sur rea l medi tat ion on the quest ion of knowledge . We learn that

even though i t i s co ld , ‘ an o ld man s i t s nett ing , | h i s net , in the g loaming a lmost

inv i s ible .’ The depict ion here i s a t imeless one that evokes a sense of cont inu i ty

wi th a van ish ing way of l i fe . The f i sherman cont inues h i s wor k to the backdrop of

the set t ing sun and ‘ the f i shhouses wi th the i r s teep ly peaked roofs | and nar row,

c leated gangp lanks s lant up | to s torerooms.’ The ent i re scene i s bordered by the

sea , which in a moment of mar ve l lous s ib i l ance i s ‘ swel l ing s lowly as i f cons ider ing � Cian Hogan English Notes 2014 17

sp i l l ing over ’ and i s bathed in a ‘ s l i ver ’ l i ght . For the br ie fest o f moments , i t i s as i f

the speaker becomes tr ans f ixed by the movement of the sea . However, she forces

her at tent ion away f rom the sea to focus on ‘ the benches ’ , ‘ lobster pots ’ , ‘masts ’

and ‘ smal l o ld bu i ld ings ’ . Then , in l ine 40 , which mar ks the beg inn ing of the shor t

second sect ion of the poem, a percept ible sh i f t occur s . Here the speaker

descr ibes the area near the ‘water ’s edge […] where they hau l up the boats ’ . In a

s low, measured fash ion her at tent ion i s dr awn ‘down and down’ towards the

wa te r. The de t a i l ed de s c r i p t i on s o f t he f i s hhouse s and t he m i c ro s cop i c

examinat ion of the “wheelbar row” , “ the o ld man’s hand” and the “capstan” now

g ive way to a s t r ange , a lmost unrecogn isable p lace . Then in the f ina l sect ion of

the poem the beaut i fu l “sur face of the sea” becomes l i ke what “we imag ine

knowledge to be” . I t i s “dar k , sa l t , c lear, moving , ut ter ly f ree dr awn f rom the co ld

hard mouth of the wor ld .” Th is i s such an unusua l yet complete ly apt metaphor

for knowledge that i t forces us to quest ion many of our preconce ived not ions

about how we v iew under stand ing and learn ing . Knowledge , B i shop seems to be

suggest ing , i s d i f f i cu l t yet a lways chang ing and “ f lowing” . S imi lar ly in her poems

“The F i sh” and “ In the F i l l ing Stat ion” the fami l i a r a l so becomes a lmost sur rea l . In

“The F i sh” we witness a k ind of t r ans format ion where the “tremendous f i sh” that

was bat tered and vener able i s re leased and the fami l i a r wor ld of the f i sh ing boat

i s a l tered unt i l becomes “r a inbow, r a inbow, r a inbow.” And “ In The F i l l ing Stat ion” ,

the deta i led a lmost photogr aph ic descr ipt ion of the “o i l soaked , o i l permeated”

“ l i t t le f i l l ing s tat ion” g ives way to a complete ly d i f ferent v iewpoint . Suddenly, in

the f ina l l ines of th i s poem, B i shop leads us to quest ion whether or not the

s tat ion i s indeed symbol ic of the fact that “someone loves us a l l .”

There i s no doubt ing that B i shop’s poetr y i s cha l leng ing however, her

poems reward the at tent ive reader ’s e f for ts . Her keen eye for deta i l , her

restr a ined , yet deeply emot iona l poems and her master y of form deser ve our

at tent ion and admir at ion , because they pose interest ing quest ions de l ivered by

means of a un ique s ty le .

� Cian Hogan English Notes 2014 18