Themes by Means of Unique Style- Bishop
Q: Explore how Elizabeth Bishop uses interesting themes throughout her poems by means of unique style.
Elizabeth Bishop is known for using the same recurring themes throughout her thought-provoking poetry. Some of these themes include childhood experiences, travel, the natural world, loneliness, detachment and the art of writing itself. Each of these themes has introduced themselves to her by means of personal experiences throughout her life. In her poetry, she shares these particular issues with the reader by means of different styles. Some of her poems offer hints of certain themes, but are not obviously prominent on the first read, While many of her other poems are based solely on a particular issue throughout the whole poem. These elements of theme and style make her poetry a very interesting read. In my essay, I am going to discuss the themes and style throughout six of Bishop’s poems; “The Fish”, “The Prodigal”, “Questions of Travel”, “Sestina”, “First Death in Nova Scotia” and “Filling Station”. Elizabeth Bishop was once quoted to have said “I like painting probably better than I like poetry.” “The Fish” is certainly a very visual poem. I believe one of the predominant themes in this poem is the natural world. Her love of the natural world and its creatures is evident throughout as she describes the fish. Bishop catches this fish but does not carry out the norm of what any other person would do with the intent of catching a fish and succeeding to do so. Instead, she studies the fish. She looks and it, and looks closer until she can come up with some kind of conclusion about the animal. She uses clear visual detail to describe the fish and paint a vivid picture in the reader’s head of what this fish looks like and what it has been through.
“Here and there his brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper, and its pattern of darker brown was like wallpaper.”
“He was speckled with barnacles, fine rosettes of lime, and infested with tiny White Sea
Elizabeth Bishop is known for using the same recurring themes throughout her thought-provoking poetry. Some of these themes include childhood experiences, travel, the natural world, loneliness, detachment and the art of writing itself. Each of these themes has introduced themselves to her by means of personal experiences throughout her life. In her poetry, she shares these particular issues with the reader by means of different styles. Some of her poems offer hints of certain themes, but are not obviously prominent on the first read, While many of her other poems are based solely on a particular issue throughout the whole poem. These elements of theme and style make her poetry a very interesting read. In my essay, I am going to discuss the themes and style throughout six of Bishop’s poems; “The Fish”, “The Prodigal”, “Questions of Travel”, “Sestina”, “First Death in Nova Scotia” and “Filling Station”. Elizabeth Bishop was once quoted to have said “I like painting probably better than I like poetry.” “The Fish” is certainly a very visual poem. I believe one of the predominant themes in this poem is the natural world. Her love of the natural world and its creatures is evident throughout as she describes the fish. Bishop catches this fish but does not carry out the norm of what any other person would do with the intent of catching a fish and succeeding to do so. Instead, she studies the fish. She looks and it, and looks closer until she can come up with some kind of conclusion about the animal. She uses clear visual detail to describe the fish and paint a vivid picture in the reader’s head of what this fish looks like and what it has been through.
“Here and there his brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper, and its pattern of darker brown was like wallpaper.”
“He was speckled with barnacles, fine rosettes of lime, and infested with tiny White Sea