2002 Paper 2 - Section 3

It is not surprising that Bishop's poetry appeals to the modern reader; her life was modern and unconventional, and she only died as recently as 1979. An exceptionally well-travelled woman, Bishop experienced the world in all its vastness and diversity. I think the vastness and diversity of the world and its people are evident in her work, and this is very appealing to the modern reader.

'Questions of Travel' is particularly appealing to me, as a modern reader. In contemporary western society, global travel has never been easier, and in social circles it is almost mandatory. This is why I found 'Questions of Travel' very relevant to modern life. We take it for granted that travel broadens the mind, builds character, is an education in itself, et cetera. But this poem questions the urge to travel is the very thing which shaped Bishop's lifestyle:

'What childishness is it that while there's a breath of life
in our bodies, we are determined to rush
to see the sun the other way around? '

Here the travel bug is portrayed as a kind of madness. The traveller seems ridiculous, his goal pointless. The repetition of 'inexplicable' in this stanza suggests that the traveller/tourist sees too much and sees without insight or understanding. The poet herself seems weary of the whole process and there is a sense that the mystery is lost when we see and experience too much of the world:

'Oh, must we dream our dreams
and have them too?
And have we room
For one more folded sunset, still quite warm?'

Seeing a sunset becomes as wearisome as packing your suitcase — yet again. The above lines could be a metaphor for the excesses of modern life. Dreams of exotic places have become so attainable that 'dreams' become 'goals' and are easily added to our list of 'things to do before I settle down'. Later, they'll occupy space on our CV.

Despite the world-weary tone of this poem, the poet's depiction of travel is refreshing. The poem refreshes because it strips the topic of all cliched glamour and romance. The rain in Brazil is compared to:

' … politicians' speeches:
two hours of unrelenting oratory
and then a sudden golden silence.'

Travel, so often linked with imagination and adventure, is linked with a ' … lack of imagination that makes us come/to imagined places'.

The poem's final word is 'home', and home is an uncertain and unsettled concept in Bishop's poetry. This is very modern. 'Home' today does not have the same connotations of stability and security that it once did. In 'Sestina' we glimpse Bishop's childhood home, devoid of parents and bathed in tears. Sadly 'tears' predominate in this home, from outside and within,

' … the teakettle's small hard tears
dance like mad on the hot black stove
the way the rain must dance on the house'.

The child's perspective is captured skilfully, objects are personified ('the almanac hovers … above the child'), and the adult's pretence of normality fails to reassure.

The way in which the child absorbs the atmosphere of her home, and the emotion of the 'old grandmother' is unsettling and full of foreboding. The rain and 'hard tears' which surround this child, find their way into her picture:

'With crayons the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother'.

The child's environment has clearly left its imprint on her consciousness. The last stanza is chilling as a childhood memory prepares to inform the future, 'Time to plant tears'.

Bishop's portrayal of childhood and environment is far from nostalgic or comforting but the modern reader can learn much from it. In today's world of therapists, counsellors, popular psychology and self-help manuals, much emphasis is placed on the influence of childhood experience on adult life. This makes 'Sestina' especially relevant to modern readers.

'First Death in Nova Scotia' recalls a child's bewildering first impression of death. Death, of course, is a universal theme, so any reader may find it relevant. The young Elizabeth cannot comprehend death. Bishop takes us into the 'cold, cold parlor' and we see what she sees — pictures of the royal family, a stuffed bird, a marble-topped table. While the child may not fully comprehend death, she seems to perceive its essence:

'Arthur was very small.
He was all white, like a doll
That hadn't been painted yet'.

The child's perception may seem simplistic, but it certainly conveys the sense of a life cut short, of unfulfilled potential. The fear of the unknown and the pain of losing are expressed with childlike simplicity in the final lines:

'But how could Arthur go,
clutching his tiny lily,
with his eyes shut up so tight
and the roads deep in snow?'

'The Fish' is a wonderfully uplifting poem, and like so much of Bishop's poetry, it tells an engaging story. The sea and sea-life were of great interest to Bishop and here a 'tremendous fish' commands the reader's attention. The fish's appearance fascinates Bishop with his 'brown skin hung in strips/like ancient wallpaper' and 'shapes like full-blown roses/stained and lost through age'. But that's not all! This poem becomes a visual spectacle and at times it seems she has painted the poem. The poet conjures up images of the fish's

' … coarse white flesh
packed in like feathers,
the big bones and the little bones,
the dramatic reds and blacks …'.

Gradually, the fish's presence overcomes the poet and a grand climax is reached in an explosion of colour 'until everything/was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!' The poet's final act of letting the fish go is a powerful resolution to the poem's narrative. Like 'Nova Scotia', this poem ends with a form of letting go, but in 'The Fish' we see that letting go can be an exhilarating and empowering experience.

Empowerment is also reached in 'The Prodigal'. The dejection and misery of the addict are conveyed in images of squalor and filth — 'brown enormous odor …glass-smooth dung … the sow that always ate her young'. Bishop was writing from her own experiences of alcoholism. The isolation of the alcoholic/prodigal is described as 'exile' and the eventual attempt at recovery is suggested in the 'bats' uncertain, staggering flight'. This poem ends with empowerment, I believe, because the prodigal 'finally' makes his own mind up to go home, and he takes control of his destiny. Bishop made many difficult choices in her lifetime, and one can only wonder where the journey home would have taken her.

Self-questioning, gritty realism, courage, survival and wonder are all present in Bishop's poetry. These are only some of the aspects which appeal to me as a modern reader. I am confident that Bishop's work will be just as appealing for future generations also.