Poetry Jam 2020: Elizabeth Bishop

[lunabee34]

Our reading selection for this month is Elizabeth Bishop's Geography III. Can't wait to see what you all think about this collection.



March: Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife

April: Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese

May: Sandra Cisneros' My Wicked Wicked Ways

June: Carl Sandburg Honey and Salt

July: Mascha: The Poems of Mascha Kaléko

August: Shakespeare's sonnets

September: W. D. Snodgrass' Not for Specialists

October: Toi Derricotte's Tender

November: Franny Choi's Soft Science

December: Pablo Neruda's The Heights of Machu Picchu

Comments

[lunabee34]

I like the beginning of the collection, this idea that poetry is a way of orienting oneself in space and time and that it provides a map of the human condition (and this particular human's condition).

"Crusoe in England"--I like this but would like it better if I had read Robinson Crusoe and had more context for why his safe life at home has no more meaning for him. It captures the way coming home can be a let down beautifully.

"Night City"--fantastical description of an aerial view of the city

"The Moose"--rhyme is unobtrusive, not juvenile at all, and disappears into the poem. Excellent sense of place, attention to setting and the natural world.

"12 O'Clock News"-- so clever. This one of my favorites in the collection. I love her imagining her writing desk as a country and all the objects on it artifacts of or denizens of this country. Nice to have some light humor along with commentary on the nature of writing and the writer.

"Poem"--again, sense of place, regional and familial identity, legacy

"The End of March"--this is my other favorite in the collection; Love that fantastic image of the sun as a lion who'd walked the beach before them

"Objects & Apparitions"--this poem is a translated Octavio Paz poem. Here's an example of Joseph Cornell's work: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/187694

"Five Flights Up"--the masterful turn this takes at the end. "Yesterday brought today so lightly! / (A yesterday I find almost impossible to lift.)"

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

"12 O'clock News" was my favorite of the collection. I thought it was 'worth the price of admission,' so to speak. A very clever premise executed beautifully. I plan to do my own version (a fannish one of Sherlock Holmes's 221B Baker Street sitting room) for April (National Poetry Month). I will post more thoughts about the others, but I really enjoyed this one.

[lunabee34]

That was my favorite poem, too! I love writers being clever.

I can't wait to see what you come up with. :)

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I wasn't too keen on the first poem "Waiting Room." I think it was the subject matter that put me off.

And Robinson Crusoe was sad, I agree. I mean it's hard for anyone used to adventure to return to an ordinary life and grow old.

The Moose was interesting in terms of the rhyme. It was, as you say, very subtle. So I liked the poem more for the structure than what it was talking about.

"One Art" is, maybe, the classic modern villanelle, so it sets the standard.

Thank you for posting the link about Joseph Cornell. That makes it a lot easier to understand what's going on.

The last poem is very nice, too. She has a nice way of describing ordinary moments and making profound statements about them almost offhandedly.

That's the word I'd use with a lot of it. Offhandedly. Of course that's just the way it comes across. I know it was very planned and carefully crafted. But it's sort of domestic, daily, ordinary, but very observant and insightful.

[lunabee34]

*nods nods*

I didn't say anything about "One Art" because I've already talked about it in my post about villanelles, but it's 100% a classic for a reason.

I agree with you about "Waiting Room." It did not grab me, but it's one of her most frequently anthologized poems, which is odd to me.

I agree about the observation of the mundane. She's very gifted in creating meaning out of very ordinary circumstances.

Something I read about her said she is one of our most important poets, but she actually published very little compared to other poets, which is interesting to me.

[nyctanthes]

I read it! I really enjoyed it! Will post more thoughts when I have a better connection and more time. :)

Sadly, I cannot do the Duffy unless I buy her collected works. Worth it?

[lunabee34]

Yay! Can't wait to hear your thoughts.

IDK about Duffy; she will be new to me as well. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful there.