Poetry – Elizabeth Bishop
[2013]
Poetry – Elizabeth Bishop
Aoife O’Driscoll www.aoifesnotes.com
Elizabeth Bishop – Brief Biography
Elizabeth Bishop was born in Massachusetts in 1911. Her father died when she was a baby, and his death caused Bishop’s mother to have a mental breakdown. When Bishop was five her mother was permanently institutionalised and was never reunited with her daughter. Bishop’s maternal grandparents took care of her and she spent her early childhood with them on their farm in Nova Scotia. Bishop was very happy there, and it was while living in Nova Scotia that she became a keen fisherwoman. However, her father’s family claimed custody of her in 1917 and took her back to Massachusetts. Bishop was very unhappy there, and developed chronic asthma. As a result of this, she had very little formal schooling until she was a teenager. When she was fourteen, Bishop was sent to boarding school, and from there she went on to study English literature at the exclusive Vassar college in New York. Bishop’s father had left her a sum of money which lasted her for many years. This enabled her to travel widely and concentrate on her writing. In 1951, Bishop met Lota de Macedo Soares, a Brazilian architect. The two women lived together in Rio de Janeiro until Lota’s death in 1967. Bishop moved back to the United States when Soares died, and taught at Harvard University. During her lifetime, Bishop received numerous awards for her published works. Her poems do not focus on her personal life in the same way that many of her contemporaries’ work did. She did not write openly about her sexuality or her struggles with alcoholism or depression, and wanted to be remembered for the quality of her work rather than for the intimate details of her life.
Aoife O’Driscoll
www.aoifesnotes.com
Page 2
The Fish
I caught a tremendous fish and held him beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of his mouth. He didn't fight. He hadn't fought at all. He hung a
Poetry – Elizabeth Bishop
Aoife O’Driscoll www.aoifesnotes.com
Elizabeth Bishop – Brief Biography
Elizabeth Bishop was born in Massachusetts in 1911. Her father died when she was a baby, and his death caused Bishop’s mother to have a mental breakdown. When Bishop was five her mother was permanently institutionalised and was never reunited with her daughter. Bishop’s maternal grandparents took care of her and she spent her early childhood with them on their farm in Nova Scotia. Bishop was very happy there, and it was while living in Nova Scotia that she became a keen fisherwoman. However, her father’s family claimed custody of her in 1917 and took her back to Massachusetts. Bishop was very unhappy there, and developed chronic asthma. As a result of this, she had very little formal schooling until she was a teenager. When she was fourteen, Bishop was sent to boarding school, and from there she went on to study English literature at the exclusive Vassar college in New York. Bishop’s father had left her a sum of money which lasted her for many years. This enabled her to travel widely and concentrate on her writing. In 1951, Bishop met Lota de Macedo Soares, a Brazilian architect. The two women lived together in Rio de Janeiro until Lota’s death in 1967. Bishop moved back to the United States when Soares died, and taught at Harvard University. During her lifetime, Bishop received numerous awards for her published works. Her poems do not focus on her personal life in the same way that many of her contemporaries’ work did. She did not write openly about her sexuality or her struggles with alcoholism or depression, and wanted to be remembered for the quality of her work rather than for the intimate details of her life.
Aoife O’Driscoll
www.aoifesnotes.com
Page 2
The Fish
I caught a tremendous fish and held him beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of his mouth. He didn't fight. He hadn't fought at all. He hung a