The Map by Elizabeth Bishop

8/13/2019 The Map by Elizabeth Bishop

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2n first lookin% at the ap* the poet sees 'ater surroundin% and supportin%

land$ The second half of the first stanza* ho'e#er* su%%ests a relationship

bet'een the land and the sea that is ysterious and une-pected$ The land is

acti#e&&it sees to lean* lift* and dra' the 'ater around itself$ The poet asks*"is the land tu%%in% at the sea fro under3" Because these 0uestions %o

unans'ered* the reader be%ins to understand that not e#eryone interprets a

ap the sae 'ay$

+n the lon% central stanza* the ap recei#es the close inspection for 'hich

Bishop,s poetry is 'ell kno'n$ 4e'foundland (perhaps "ne' found land")

su%%ests that the ia%ination can create ne' territory* ne' realities$ +n

!abrador* "yello'* 'here the oony Eskio5 has oiled it*" the dreaer* the

"oony" ia%iner* paints the land to suit her #ision of it$ trokin% the lo#elybays "under a %lass as if they 'ere e-pected to blosso" su%%ests the ap,s

a%ical 0uality as 'ell as its aesthetic beauty$ Perhaps "blosso" su%%ests

ho' one,s e-pectations %ro' 'hile studyin% a ap$

The poet also inspects the carefully printed naes* 'hich "run out to sea"

and "cross the nei%hborin% ountains$" The 6u-taposition of the artificial

(printed naes) 'ith the "real" (sea and ountains) reinds the reader that

the ap is a an&ade ob6ect$ .or the poet* it is a representation by 'hich to

copare reality 'ith perception$ tanza ends 'ith a playful ia%e: Thepeninsulas are "thub and fin%er5 $$$ feelin% for the soothness of yard&

%oods$" The poet sees to prefer her fanciful perception to the real places

the ap represents$ This ia%e also looks a%ain at the relationship of land to

'ater$

E-ainin% that relationship further* the poet su%%ests in stanza 8 that the

"'a#es, o'n conforation" is 'hat deterines the shape of the land* rather

than the land,s outlines deterinin% ho' far the 'ater lies$ The poet sees

4or'ay runnin% south in the shape of a hare* and then* %ettin% back to theart of carto%raphy* casually 'onders* "Are they assi%ned* or can the countries

pick their colors3" These three obser#ations su%%est 0uestions of perspecti#e$

.or e-aple* ho' one sees an ob6ect&&such as this ap&&is a #ery personal

e-perience$ The poet,s (unre#ealed) conclusions are her o'n there are not

definiti#e ans'ers* no "fa#orites$"


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That is 'hy the carto%rapher,s representations and use of tools* records* and

perceptions are "More delicate than the historians,$" The historian attepts to

deal 'ith facts* and chronolo%ies of e#ents* ob6ecti#ely$ Althou%h she dares

not distort truth* the apaker* unlike the historian* deals 'ith possibilities

ia%inati#ely* for the artist celebrates the notion that to be copletely

ob6ecti#e is ipossible$

.ors and De#ices

!ike any of Bishop,s poes* "The Map" e-eplifies her astery of or%anic

for$ The poe,s structure %ro's out of and also contributes to its

e-pression$ The rhyed stanzas (1 and 8) reflect precision* balance* andele%ance&&they ha#e a life of their o'n* e-actly as the ap li#es its life

"unperturbed*" e-istin% "under a %lass*" independent of the #ie'er,s scrutiny$

The controlled pace of these stanzas helps to create the tone of careful

e-ploration and tentati#e su%%estion that the poet,s obser#ations con#ey*

especially in the first stanza$

The ap is* furtherore* an inaniate ob6ect ade aniate by the

personification of land and sea$ .or e-aple* "the land leans; do'n" and lifts

and tu%s* the 'aters "lend*" and the profiles of land in#esti%ate$ The rhyed

stanzas are also the 0uestion stanzas* in 'hich the poet asks (and ne#er

ans'ers) 0uestions about 'hat she sees and ia%ines in the ap$ These

unans'ered 0uestions shape the poe* propel it for'ard* and frae it 'ith a

tone of uncertain yet deterined speculation$

The lon%* unrhyed stanza is a close description that sees to start at the

top and o#e south'ard* as if the poet 'ere runnin% her fin%ers do'n alon%

the ap,s colored lines$ A runnin% coentary of etaphors aniates and

finally personifies the peninsulas as 'oen$ Bishop uses a #ery natural 'ord

order* the sae order of 'ords one 'ould use in a %ood sentence$ This

techni0ue 'elcoes the reader into the poe* 'hich reads as if the narrator

'ere 'onderin% aloud$ The lon%* central stanza also uses first&person plural

("'e")* as if to dra' the reader further and ore intiately into the poet,s

speculation on 'hat a ap really is and on its ultiate purpose$


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+n the first stanza* the #erbs are #ery acti#e the land leans* lifts* and tu%s$ +n

contrast* stanza be%ins 'ith land that "lies flat and still$" The follo'in%

#erbs in the sae stanza reflect deterined* if cautious* otion: "oiled*"

"blosso*" "run*" "cross*" and "take$" These #erbs indicate that the poet,se-ploration in this stanza is painstakin% and precise she is 'ell a'are that

details risk bein% o#erlooked "'hen eotion too far e-ceeds its cause$"

tanza 8 %athers to%ether 'hat the poet has learned about the ap$ he

looks once ore at the relationship of land to 'ater (a recurrin% puzzle)* and

she notes other details: hare&shaped 4or'ay and the "profiles" of land that

in#esti%ate the sea$


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Poes (19?9)* Bishop also su%%ested that "The Map" ay lead to a 'ay of

understandin% her 'ork* especially her sense of ho' an "ob6ecti#e" 'ork of

art ay ebody an artist,s sub6ecti#e e-perience$ As early as the second line

of the poe* for e-aple* Bishop,s sub6ecti#e kind of seein% becoes

apparent$ /er fanciful ia%es&&the "clean ca%e for in#isible fish" and

"4or'ay,s hare"&&su%%est that 'hat one sees depends on ho' one looks oruses her ia%ination$

As 'ith the e#er&chan%in% relationship bet'een land and 'ater* the concept

of sub6ecti#e perception arises often$ The poet,s uni0ue and often 'hisical

account of the ap re#eals her uni0ueness of #ision&&her 'ay of e-periencin%

the 'orld and of e-pressin% that e-perience$ hile the 0uestions in stanza 1

first introduce the idea that indi#idual perspecti#es can differ* the lines in

stanza su%%est that indi#idual perspecti#es&&and not the e-ternal 'orld

itself&&ay in fact deterine 'hat is real$

+n "The Map*" Bishop is in fact e-plorin% the ia%ination rather than the

landscape$ The poe i%ht e#en be read as a ruination on the #alue or

status of poetry$ "The Map" is not about actual %eo%raphy but about refusin%

to standardize the ia%es each person pro6ects onto a place$ Bishop is tryin%

to re#i#e and rene' si%ht* to ake ia%es ne'$

E-pressin% the ia%ination,s o'n 'ay of seein%* 'hile retainin% one,s sense

of the real 'orld* is the challen%e the artist accepts and stru%%les 'ith$ The

0uestion of 'hether epirical truth or ia%inati#e truth is ore #aluable in

huankind,s efforts to chart the 'orld around it is unans'erable$ Probably*

both perceptions are re0uired$ The poet* ho'e#er* uses ore delicate* ore

po'erful colors to paint the facts 'ith a sharper and subtler stroke they %i#e

reality a beauty and for that the historians, literal black&and&'hite

representations cannot approach$ The ap&aker,s ia%es are fra%ile* yet

keen and subtle* the results of a particular ia%ination shapin% the real$ That

e-pression&&the delicate "ap&akers, colors"&&coprises the poet,s #aried*

rich* and peculiar 'ays of seein%$


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@ross eferences

@oplete Poes* 197&1979* The (oen,s !iterature)

Man&Moth* The (Poetry)

Moose* The (Poetry)

4orth and outh (Masterplots @lassics)

Cnbelie#er* The (Poetry)

Author Bio%raphy

Documents

The Map by Elizabeth Bishop