ELIZABETH
BISHOP
Elizabeth
Bishop's home was Great Village, Nova Scotia. During her lifetime
she published five volumes of poetry, North and South (1946),
A Cold Spring (1955), Questions of Travel (1965),
The Complete Poems (1969), and Geography III (1977).
These books are complemented by her translation of The Diary
of Helena Morley (1957), a travel book entitled Brazil
(1962), an Anthology of Twentieth-Century Brazilian Poetry
(1972), and several short stories. David Staines writes: "Her
writings do not offer any exhaustive philosophy or approach to
life. Rather she shows the rich texture and variety of the world
with all its joys and pains, injustices and confusions. Her poetry
is deceptively simple. The seeming artlessness of its careful
observation and extraordinary detail hides the continual reworkings
and polishings that are the hallmark of her verse.
SONNET
Caught -- the bubble
in the spirit level,
a creature divided;
and the compass needle
wobbling and wavering,
undecided.
Freed -- the broken
thermometer's mercury
running away;
and the rainbow-bird
from the narrow bevel
of the empty mirror,
flying wherever
it feels like, gay!
Listen
to Elizabeth recite SONNET
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