Elizabeth Bishop Linguistic Intelligence

1. Elizabeth BishopLinguistic Intelligence Jaemin Shin 7-E

2. Who is Elizabeth? (1911 - 1979) • Elizabeth Bishop was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1911, but spent part of her childhood with her Canadian grandparents after her father's death and mother's hospitalization. • She became a famous poet after, and she wrote over 50 poems.

3. One Art The concept of loss has been flavored by the poets, where they have permanently bemoaned the loss of beauty, youth, and love. Bishop is a poet whom is wry, funny, flippant, and not to sound weepy-eyed. The repetition line, ‘the art of losing isn’t hard to master’ makes you wonder how far and fast she’s had to lose. We can see there are a lot of rhyming words, such as the last words of the second sentence, repetition of last line, and etc. This poem includes many metaphors, such as loved houses, or losing a lot of places. • The art of losing isn't hard to master; • so many things seem filled with the intent • to be lost that their loss is no disaster. • Lose something every day. Accept the fluster • of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. • The art of losing isn't hard to master. • Then practice losing farther, losing faster: • places, and names, and where it was you meant • to travel. None of these will bring disaster. • I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or • next-to-last, of three loved houses went. • The art of losing isn't hard to master. • I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, • some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. • I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

4. Lullaby For The Cat • Minnow, go to sleep and dream, • Close your great big eyes; • Round your bed Events prepare • The pleasantest surprise. • Darling Minnow, drop that frown, • Just cooperate, • Not a kitten shall be drowned • In the Marxist State. • Joy and Love will both be yours, • Minnow, don't be glum. • Happy days are coming soon-- • Sleep, and let them come... This poem described the cat’s emotions well, and gives an idea of how people are talking towards the cat. In addition to, it illustrates some sorrowful emotions of the cat. The poem seems to have a rhythm, and it also includes words that are made-up. For example, to be attractive, the poet, Elizabeth Bishop wrote ‘pleasantest’. It is curious if she had written her sentiments into the poem, where she can write her feelings as the cat does. When the poet has a hard time living, such as losing her father, she may just want to sleep for another today.

5. Insomnia • The moon in the bureau mirror • looks out a million miles • (and perhaps with pride, at herself, • but she never, never smiles) • far and away beyond sleep, or • perhaps she's a daytime sleeper. • By the Universe deserted, • she'd tell it to go to hell, • and she'd find a body of water, • or a mirror, on which to dwell. • So wrap up care in a cobweb • and drop it down the well • into that world inverted • where left is always right, • where the shadows are really the body, • where we stay awake all night, • where the heavens are shallow as the sea • is now deep, and you love me. The poem Insomnia has a lot of descriptions, and the words she use is fresh and unique. She can turn her mundane topic into something unforgettable. We are only at the end we understand the depth of feeling behind her mystical images. There is an actual research that Elizabeth Bishop is a lesbian, and she wrote her poem based on a girl. If we look at the last 6 lines, it describes ‘we’ which would be according to Bishop and her lover, describing how much they are meaning to each other.

6. Bibiliography • http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/elizabeth_bishop • http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Elizabeth_Bishop/51 • http://bribelleritaly.blogspot.com/2008/09/elizabeth-bishops-insomnia.html