Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
Little Exercise
For Thomas Edwards WanningThink of the storm roaming the sky uneasilylike a dog looking for a place to sleep in,listen to it growling.Think how they..
© Elizabeth Bishop
The Map
Land lies in water; it is shadowed green.Shadows, or are they shallows, at its edgesshowing the line of long sea-weeded ledgeswhere weeds hang to the..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Song For The Rainy Season
Hidden, oh hiddenin the high fogthe house we live in,beneath the magnetic rock,rain-, rainbow-ridden,where blood-blackbromelias, lichens,owls, and..
© Elizabeth Bishop
To Be Written On The Mirror In Whitewash
I live only here, between your eyes and you,But I live in your world. What do I do?--Collect no interest--otherwise what I can;Above all I am not..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Cirque D'Hiver
Across the floor flits the mechanical toy,fit for a king of several centuries back.A little circus horse with real white hair.His eyes are glossy..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Giant Toad
I am too big. Too big by far. Pity me.My eyes bulge and hurt. They are my one great beauty, evenso. They see too much, above, below. And yet, there..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Lines Written In The Fannie Farmer Cookbook
[Given to Frank Bidart]You won't become a gourmet* cookBy studying our Fannie's book--Her thoughts on Food & Keeping HouseAre scarcely those of..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Questions Of Travel
There are too many waterfalls here; the crowded streamshurry too rapidly down to the sea,and the pressure of so many clouds on the mountaintopsmakes..
© Elizabeth Bishop
The Moose
For Grace Bulmer BowersFrom narrow provincesof fish and bread and tea,home of the long tideswhere the bay leaves the seatwice a day and takesthe..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Arrival At Santos
Here is a coast; here is a harbor;here, after a meager diet of horizon, is some scenery:impractically shaped and--who knows?--self-pitying..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Argument
Days that cannot bring you nearor will not,Distance trying to appearsomething more obstinate,argue argue argue with meendlesslyneither proving you..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Exchanging Hats
Unfunny uncles who insistin trying on a lady's hat,--oh, even if the joke falls flat,we share your slight transvestite twistin spite of our..
© Elizabeth Bishop
A Summer’s Dream
To the sagging wharffew ships could come.The population numberedtwo giants, an idiot, a dwarf,a gentle storekeeperasleep behind his counter,and our..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Conversation
The tumult in the heartkeeps asking questions.And then it stops and undertakes to answerin the same tone of voice.No one could tell the..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Love Lies Sleeping
Earliest morning, switching all the tracksthat cross the sky from cinder star to star,coupling the ends of streetsto trains of light.now draw us into..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Cape Breton
Out on the high "bird islands," Ciboux and Hertford,the razorbill auks and the silly-looking puffins all standwith their backs to the mainlandin..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Five Flights Up
Still dark.The unknown bird sits on his usual branch.The little dog next door barks in his sleepinquiringly, just once.Perhaps in his sleep, too, the..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Anaphora
Each day with so much ceremonybegins, with birds, with bells,with whistles from a factory;such white-gold skies our eyesfirst open on, such brilliant..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Chemin De Fer
Alone on the railroad trackI walked with pounding heart.The ties were too close togetheror maybe too far apart.The scenery was..
© Elizabeth Bishop
At The Fishhouses
Although it is a cold evening,down by one of the fishhousesan old man sits netting,his net, in the gloaming almost invisible,a dark purple-brown,and..
© Elizabeth Bishop
First Death In Nova Scotia
In the cold, cold parlormy mother laid out Arthurbeneath the chromographs:Edward, Prince of Wales,with Princess Alexandra,and King George with Queen..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Filling Station
Oh, but it is dirty!--this little filling station,oil-soaked, oil-permeatedto a disturbing, over-allblack translucency.Be careful with that..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Insomnia
The moon in the bureau mirrorlooks out a million miles(and perhaps with pride, at herself,but she never, never smiles)far and away beyond sleep..
© Elizabeth Bishop
In The Waiting Room
In Worcester, Massachusetts,I went with Aunt Consueloto keep her dentist's appointmentand sat and waited for herin the dentist's waiting room.It was..
© Elizabeth Bishop
Florida
The state with the prettiest name,the state that floats in brackish water,held together by mangrave rootsthat bear while living oysters in..
© Elizabeth Bishop