Elizabeth Bishop Quotes Flashcards
The Fish: Shows the fish as a veteran. (2)
“He hung a grunting weight.”
“battered and venerable.”
The Fish: Tone: Disappointment.
“But not to return my stare.”
The Fish: Adversity. (3)
“Five big hooks.”
“Five old pieces of fish line.”
“A five-haired beard of wisdom.”
The Fish: Moment of awareness. (2)
“I stared and stared.”
“And I let the fish go.”
The Fish: Tone: Joy
“Rainbow, rainbow, rainbow.”
First Death: intense description (3). Metaphors.
“Marble-topped table.” ; “white frozen lake.”
“A little frosted cake.”
First Death: Childhood Grief (2) Alliteration and similes.
“Cold and caressable.”
“White, like a doll.”
First Death: Permanence of Death (2)
“Left him white forever.”
“In the cold, cold parlor.”
First Death: Jack Frost allusion.
“Jack Frost had started to paint him.”
The Prodigal: Synaesthesia/personification and in-depth description. (2)
“Brown enormous odor he lived by.”
“With it’s breathing and thick hair.”
The Prodigal: Personal experiences. Overcoming adversity. (3)
“He hid the pints behind a two-by-four”
“Burning puddles seemed to reassure”
“He almost might endure.”
The Prodigal: Confronts his problems. (3)
“Beyond his control.”
“Uncertain staggering flight.”
“Make his mind up to go home.”
Sestina: Pathetic fallacy for intensity of feeling.
“September rain falls on the house.”
Sestina: Intensity of feeling. (3)
“Birdlike, the almanac hovers half open above the child.” (Fear)
“Teacup full of dark brown tears.” (Grief)
“To hide her tears.”
Sestina: Innocence of a child. (2)
“‘It was to be’ says the Marvel stove.”
“The child draws a rigid house.”
Sestina: Reflection of grief on to objects. (2)
“Teakettle’s small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove.”
“A man with buttons like tears.”
The Fish: In-depth description. Tone: Matter of fact. (2)
“Coarse white flesh packed in like feathers.”
“Dramatic reds and blacks.”
The Fish: tone of pride.
“I caught a tremendous fish.”
Filling Station: In-depth description. (7)
“Oh, but it is dirty!” “Oil-soaked, oil permeated.” “Black translucency.” “Several quick and saucy and greasy sons.” “Impregnated wickerwork.” “Dim doily.” “Big hirsute begonia.”
Filling Station: Anaphora and rhetorical q’s and sibilance. (5)
“Why the extraneous plant?” “Why the taboret?” “Somebody waters the plant.” “Somebody loves us all.” “Softly say; ESSO-SO-SO-SO
In the Waiting Room: Interesting q’s. (3)
Fundamentally unanswerable questions.
“Why should I be my aunt, or me, or anyone?”
“What it was I was?”
“How had I come to be here?”
In the Waiting Room: Unique Style (3)
Monosyllabic childish language.
“Dark.”
“Pain”
“Big black wave.”
In the waiting room: Imagery and emotion. Deeply personal. (5)
“Necks wound round and round with wire like necks of light bulbs.”
“Falling off.” “Into cold, blue-black space.”
“Sliding beneath a big black wave.”
“It was still the fifth of February, 1918.”
