Elizabeth Bishop
Leaving Certificate Poetry
Elizabeth Bishop
 Bishop was born in 1911 in Worcester,
Massachusetts.
 When she was only a baby her father died
and her mother was so traumatised she
was later committed to a mental asylum.
 Bishop was sent to live with her
grandparents and later her aunt.
 She lived for many years in Brazil with her
lesbian partner Lota de Macedo, until
Lota’s death in 1967. Bishop described
this period as the happiest time of her life.
Elizabeth Bishop
 She wrote slowly and
published sparingly but her
work was critically
acclaimed.
 She won many prizes and
awards until her death in
Boston in 1979.
 Bishop’s unhappy childhood
created a sense of loss which
remained with her as an
adult.
The Fish
The poet catches an
enormous fish
She holds the ‘tremendous’ fish
alongside the boat. The hook
that she used to catch him is
lodged securely – ‘fast’ – in the
corner of the fish’s mouth.
This is a big fish and the poet
is surprised that it put up no
resistance when it was caught.
‘He didn’t fight./ He hadn’t
fought at all.’
The fish’s appearance
 The fish is old and its age
makes it worthy of respect.
This is clear when the poet
describes it as ‘venerable’.
 The word ‘battered’ implies that
the fish has suffered in it’s
lifetime.
 Vivid colours help us to picture
the fish: ‘brown’ and ‘darker
brown’ skin speckled with lime
green and white lines and
shapes like ‘roses’.
The Fish
 Despite the barrier between animal and
human, Bishop begins to empathise with
the fish: ‘I looked into his eyes’.
 She describes the eyes with great care,
noting that the fish’s eyes are ‘far larger’
than the poet’s but they are ‘shallower,
and yellowed.’
 Though the creature does not respond to
her, she admires ‘his sullen face/ the
mechanism of his jaw’
The Fish
 It is while she is examining the fish’s jaw that she suddenly
notices there are ‘five big hooks’ lodged firmly in the fish’s lip.
 Attached to the hooks are pieces of line and wire that would
have once connected the hooks to the rod.
 She describes the hooks as ‘weaponlike’ and realises that the
fish has struggled many times to escape capture.
The Fish
 The achievement of the fish in
escaping capture becomes like
that of a war hero who has
endured hardship and is now
being honoured.
 We can picture a battle-scarred
general, decorated for bravery,
the fish-lines are ‘like medals
with their ribbons/frayed and
wavering’.
 She realises she has looking at
a fish who has been caught
five times but each time has
managed to break himself free.
The Fish
 This knowledge gives the poets a
great feeling of ‘victory’. A victory
that comes from catching the
tremendous fish and understanding
what the fish has been through and
survived.
 The colours that surround the poet
add to this wonderful sense of victory.
Oil at the bottom of the boat ‘had
spread a rainbow/around the rusted
engine.’
The Fish
 For a brief moment, the world around the
poet seems beautiful and joyous, full of
wonderful colours: ‘everything/was
rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!’
 Inspired by the fish’s survival, the poet
decides to ‘let the fish go.’
Similes
A simile is a comparison that uses the word ‘like’,
‘as’, or ‘than’. The poem features a number of
similes:
 The shapes on the fish’s skin are ‘like full-blown
roses/stained and lost through age.’
 The fish’s flesh is ‘packed in like feathers’.
 The eyes move ‘like the tipping/of an object
toward light’.
 The lines attached to the fish’s jaw are ‘Like
medals with their ribbons/frayed and
wavering.’
Theme
The Natural World
The poet is fascinated by the fish she has caught; she
thinks that it is ‘tremendous’. It is not particularly
beautiful; in fact, the poet tells us it is ugly, or ‘homely’.
What fascinates the poet the most is just how strange
the fish is – how different it is to her.
The fish is a creature of the water and the oxygen that
the poet breathes naturally is ‘terrible’ to it.
When the poet looks into the fish’s eyes, there is no
recognition there. They do not return her stare but ‘tip’
away from her.
The poet considers the fish’s ‘frightening gills’, and
thinks of how they can ‘cut so badly.’
First Encounter Questions
1. How did the poet feel about her catch in the opening
lines?
2. In lines 8-9 the poet uses three words to describe
the fish: she says that he is ‘battered and venerable/
and homely’. What does each word suggest to you
about the fish?
3. When the poet looks at the fish’s jaw, she realises
that she is not the first person to have attempted to
catch this fish. What brings about this realisation?
4. How is the poet’s sense of joy evident in the closing
lines of the poem?
A Closer Reading – Questions
1. Were you surprised by the extent of the
detail given in the poem? Why do you
think the poet decided to give so many
details about the fish?
2. Do you think that the poet was always
sympathetic to the fish or did you think
that her attitude changed throughout the
course of the poem?
3. Do you think this poem has anything to
say about the way people relate to the
natural world?
The Prodigal
This poem can be read as an updating of the well
known parable from the Gospel of St. Luke. Jesus
tells how a son asks for his inheritance from his
wealthy farmer. He heads off to a foreign country
and squanders all of his money on drink and
gambling. Eventually, his funds run out and he has
to work in a pigsty in order to survive. For a long
time he endures labouring in the filth and dung as
he’s too ashamed to return home. Eventually,
however, he can take no more and returns home
where his father forgives him and welcomes him
home with open arms.
The Prodigal
Stanza One
Bishop dramatises the time before the
prodigal returns home rather than the
homecoming itself.
The prodigal is a voluntary ‘exile’ who
would rather sleep in the pigsty than return
to where he came from.
The poem describes an alcoholic farm
worker who works and lives in a pigsty and
the poet does not flinch from describing the
squalor in which he lives.
The Prodigal
 The pigsty can only be
described as unpleasant. The
prodigal lives among the pigs
with their ‘brown enormous
odor’, ‘ breathing’ and ‘thick
hair’.
 The floor is ‘rotten’ and the
walls are covered with ‘glasssmooth dung’
 The odour has so overpowered
him that he can no longer
‘judge’ it.
 He is so degraded that he can’t
even see how far he has fallen.
He lives too close to the animals
‘for him to judge’.
The Prodigal
 Bishop describes the pigs
in an approving way as
they offer the prodigal
some comfort and
companionship.
 Their eyes follow him
with ‘a cheerful stare /even the sow that
always ate her young.’
Such a realistic detail
makes us realise how low
the prodigal has sunk,
especially since he
scratches the sow’s head
in spite of being sickened
at what he sees.
The Prodigal
 He deceives himself so much that he has
almost come to accept his living
conditions.
 He also deceives himself, and others,
about his drinking: ‘he hid the pints
behind a two-by-four’.
 It seems he often gets drunk early in the
morning and finds beauty in the sunrise
and how it is reflected in the mud and
puddles of the yard.
Questions!
1.Describe, in your own words, the prodigal’s
living place.
2.According to Bishop, the smell of the pigsty
was ‘too close’ for the prodigal to judge.
What do you think she means by this?
3.What sign is there that the prodigal is
ashamed of his drinking?
The Prodigal
 The pleasant sight of the sunrise
that ‘glazed the barnyard mud with
red’ and the ‘burning puddles’
makes him think he can put up
with the pigsty for another year,
rather than returning home.
 ‘And then he thought he almost
might endure/his exile yet another
year or more’.
 He is not ready to face his
problems and change his life.
The Prodigal
Stanza Two
This stanza describes an
evening in the farmyard. The
sun is ‘ going away’ and his
employer ‘shuts the cows
and horses in the barn’ and
returns to his farmhouse by
the light of a lantern.
The image of the lantern
light getting smaller as the
farmer heads for home, while
the prodigal remains in
darkness with the pigs, is
truly saddening.
The Prodigal
The prodigal’s nights seem to be truly
miserable. We can imagine that they are
filled with guilt and self-loathing caused by
his addiction and the fact that he has
ended up living in such a dirty
environment.
He views the ‘first star’ as a warning that
the night time, and the horrors it brings,
are on the way.
The Prodigal
 The prodigal’s nights are in
contrast to that of the
farmer and pigs. The pigs
snore contentedly and the
farmer returns to the
warmth and comfort of his
own home.
 The intense loneliness of the
prodigal is also highlighted
as the pigs sleep in
‘companionable’
togetherness while the
farmer doesn’t say a word
to him before retreating to
his home.
Questions!
1.When does the speaker think he may be able
to stay in the pigsty?
2.The poem says the ‘first star came to warn’.
What warning does it give the prodigal?
3.In your own words describe the prodigal’s
nights? Pick out 2 particular images to help
answer the question.
The Prodigal
 The prodigal’s moment of truth
comes when he comes aware of
‘the bats’ uncertain staggering
flight’, which gives him
‘shuddering insights’.
 He does not want to recognise
the truth, but at last, he realises
his terrible isolation.
 The bats terrify him because their
blind flight resembles his
stumbling through life and his
uncertain future.
 Although he finally accepts the
misery of his situation, it is a long
time before he can find it in
himself to leave the pigsty and
return home: ‘it took him a long
time/finally to make his mind up
to go home’.
Questions
1.What makes the poet realise how
miserable he is? Why do you think this
is?
2.Why do you think the prodigal was
reluctant to change his life and return to
his home?
The Prodigal - Theme
Addiction
‘The Prodigal’ is a moving and
honest portrayal of an addict.
He suffers from severe alcohol
addiction and his problem has
brought him to a terrible
situation.
He spends his days and
nights amid the filth and
squalor of the pigsty and it
seems his nights are racked by
guilt and self-loathing.
The Prodigal - Theme
Addiction
The poem paints a picture of the
misery addiction brings but also
highlights how addicts take comfort in
their way of living. They may be
miserable but their way of life is one
they are familiar with and understand.
The poem emphasises how hard it is
for an addict to leave addiction behind,
even when he realises the full horror of
his situation.
It is important to note that there is a
strong autobiographical element to this
poem as by 1939 Bishop was a fullblown alcoholic.
The Prodigal - Theme
Homelessness
An important part of the poem is the prodigal’s
refusal to return home. He lives and works in misery
and we get a sense that he feels he doesn’t really
have a home as he is no longer welcome there.
The word ‘home’ is the only end-word that doesn’t
rhyme suggesting how difficult the idea of home is to
the prodigal.
Again, this is very similar to Bishop’s circumstances
as someone for whom ‘home’ did not really exist.
Having lost her parents at a young age and spent
years moving from house to house, in Bishop’s eyes
the journey home is not an easy one to make.
The Prodigal – Detailed
Questions
1. Discuss the main themes in this poem.
2. Do you think the poem gives a truthful portrayal of addiction
and what a terrible disease it is? Give reasons for your answer.
3. Imagine you are the prodigal. Write three paragraphs in which
you describe your life on the farmyard.
You may wish to focus on:
• Your living conditions
• Your duties in the farmyard
• Your relationship with the farmer
• How you came to live and work there
• Your reluctance to go home
The Filling Station
 In this poem, the poet stands in
front of a filling station and takes
in what she can see all around
her.
 Everything she sees appears oily
and dirty: ‘oil-soaked, oilpermeated’ to the extent that
everything has an ‘over-all /
black translucency’ or shine.
 Humorously, she warns herself,
or someone else, to be careful of
a lighted match, as the place
could quickly go up in flames.
The Filling Station
 Stanza 2 describes the
members of the family who
own and work in the station, a
father and several sons.
 Like their surroundings, the
men are ‘greasy’ but Bishop’s
tone is light-hearted when she
says they are ‘quite thoroughly
dirty’.
 With typical curiosity about the
world around her, Bishop begins
to question what she sees.
Questions Part One!
1. What is the speaker’s
immediate impression of the
filling station?
The Filling Station
 As unlikely as it seemed at
first, she realises that the
family do live in the filling
station.
 On the porch there is wicker
furniture and a dog who both
look as ‘comfy’ and dirty as the
rest of the station.
 Bishops use of the word
‘comfy’ suggests that in spite
of the dirt she finds the scene
pleasant. It is not a soulless
business, it is a family
environment.
The Filling Station
 In the 4th and 5th stanza Bishop begins to realise
that despite the fact that the place is run by a
bunch of greasy men and is utterly filthy, the
station has elements of decoration.
 The plant, the taboret and the doily are all there to
make the place pretty.
 But their presence in such a filthy place, run by
men, strikes the poet as very strange, causing her
to ask: ‘Why the extraneous plant? / Why the
taboret? / Why, oh why, the doily?’
The Filling Station
 The doily has been
carefully embroidered with
flowers and grey stitching.
Such a pretty and delicate
item is out of keeping with
the rest of the place.
 Although everything is
dirty, these are objects
that suggest a desire for a
more ordered life.
 Somebody has even
arranged the ESSO cans so
that they all face the same
way.
Questions Part Two!
1.What objects in the station
most surprise the speaker?
2.Why do you think she is so
surprised to see them in this
place?
The Filling Station
 Bishop answers her own questions in the final
stanza. She realises someone cares about this
place and has tried to improve it, even if their
efforts are pointless.
 It can hardly have been any of the men. There
must be another person, someone not present who
bothered to do all these things.
 The final line suggests that a caring ‘motherly’
figure lies behind these details. Such a person is
looking out for us: ‘Somebody loves us all.’
Questions Part Three!
1. The final stanza refers to the ‘somebody’ who
must have been responsible for the presence of
the surprising objects. Who do you think this
somebody might be?
What is the poem about?
Optimism and Motherly Love
 Although ‘The Filling Station’ is quite simply
written, it can be interpreted a number of
different ways.
 One reading of the poem is that it shows
Bishop’s optimistic view of life, despite her
personal problems, especially the lack of a
mother in her life.
 She seems to suggest that a mother’s
presence is always felt, even if she is not
actually there.
 The father and the ‘greasy’ sons have had at
least some experience of feminine care and
affection. It doesn’t matter that they are
dirty and unattractive because somebody
has loved them.
What is the poem about?
Regret
Some readers feel that the light-hearted tone of the
poem is tinged with regret. After all, the station has
been allowed to become so dirty.
The mother is nowhere to be seen. Has she gone
away or simply given up the battle against the oil and
grease?
This may be an expression of grief for Bishop’s
deprived childhood.
Sound patterns in the poem
 Bishop makes use of sibilance (repetition of ‘s’
sounds) in the poem – in words such as
‘soaked’, ‘translucency’, ‘saucy’, ‘greasy’ and
so on.
 This has an onomatopoeic effect as it suits the
impression of oiliness and grease that she
wants to give.
 The use of alliteration in the words ‘family
filling’ and ‘dim doily’ contribute to the
harmony of the poem.
The Filling Station Detailed
Questions
1. Do you think that the speaker respects the
fact somebody has bothered to try to
make the filling station pretty? Or do you
think she feels that such efforts are a
waste of time?
2. What do you think is the poem’s
message? Give reasons for your answer.
Elizabeth Bishop Question
What is your personal response to the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop?
Your answer could include a discussion of how you respond to the following
parts of her poetry:
 Her choice of themes – childhood experience, the natural world, addiction,
family etc.
 The questioning nature of her poetry – the questions her poems raise and
sometimes answer.
 Her imagery and descriptions that are always vivid and fresh, showing her
curiosity about the world around her.
 Her use of language and the emotions her poem’s describe.
Remember to focus on themes and techniques rather than summing
up the poem. Use the SMILES technique to keep your answer
focused!