Juxtaposition In It Is Marvel

Of all her unpublished poetry, “It is marvelous to wake up together” (“It is marvelous”) is the most commonly talked about. Travisano considers this one of Bishop’s unpublished poems that feels completed (236). Anderson, who discusses both the recurrent images of lines and electricity in Bishop’s poetry, points out the use of electricity here stating it “transmit[s] the surge of sexual excitement” while also “carry[ing] a warning and are possibly meant as conduction wires, earthing any lightning strike” (154). This juxtaposition makes sense with the way Bishop deals with her sexuality. For the most part it is “marvelous” and exciting to be in a relationship, but there is also an edge of fear to it. Electricity sparks through the poem not only because it is a good metaphor for her feelings towards her lover, but because it depicts the danger of exposing herself to the world.
“It is marvelous” is able to evade particular references to Bishop’s lover but is still not subtle enough for Bishop to publish. The idea of protecting her lovers appears to be one of the main reasons for her reluctance to publish certain poems. Using the danger of electricity in this poem, Bishop shows precisely how precarious her life, especially her love life is, and how detrimental it may be to publish poems like this. “In Bishop’s early poem above – there is little difference – with maybe no more than a line separating them – between avoiding or diverting and inviting danger” and as such she cannot publish it lest it bring on a pernicious storm (Anderson