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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: BISHOP, ELIZABETH Matches Found: 155 Bishop, Elizabeth Poet's Biography 155 poems available by this author 12 O'CLOCK NEWS First Line: As you all know, tonight is the night of the full moon Last Line: Inscrutable people, our opponents, or of the sad corruption of their leaders A COLD SPRING First Line: A cold spring: / the violet was flawed on the lawn Subject(s): Spring A MIRACLE FOR BREAKFAST Poem Text First Line: At six o'clock we were waiting for coffee ANAPHORA Poem Text Recitation First Line: Each day with so much ceremony Last Line: Mortal fatigue Subject(s): Mourning; Bereavement ANAPHORA First Line: Each day with so much ceremony Subject(s): Mourning ARGUMENT First Line: Days that cannot bring you near ARMADILLO; FOR ROBERT LOWELL First Line: This is the time of year Last Line: And a weak mailed fist %clenched ignorant against the sky Subject(s): Animals; Armadillos; Birds; Brazil; Owls ARRIVAL AT SANTOS First Line: Here is a coast; here is a harbor Last Line: We are driving to the interior AT THE FISHHOUSES Poem Text Recitation First Line: Although it is a cold evening Subject(s): Fish & Fishing; Anglers AT THE FISHHOUSES First Line: Although it is a cold evening Last Line: Our knowledge is historical, flowing, and flown Subject(s): Fishing And Fishermen BALL POEM First Line: What is the boy now, who has lost his ball Last Line: Or whistling, I am not a little boy BALLAD OF THE SUBWAY TRAIN First Line: Long, long ago when god was young Last Line: They really are the dragons who %licked up the swarm of stars BIGHT First Line: At low tide like this how sheer the water is Last Line: All the untidy activity continues, %awful but cheerful Subject(s): Nature; Wharves BRAZIL, JANUARY 1, 1502 First Line: Januaries, nature greets our eyes Last Line: And retreating, always retreating, behind it BURGLAR OF BABYLON First Line: On the fair green hills of rio Last Line: The hill of astonishment, %and the hill of babylon Subject(s): Burglars; Crime And Criminals; Rio De Janeiro CAPE BRETON First Line: Out on the high bird islands, ciboux and hertford CASABIANCA Poem Text First Line: Love's the boy stood on the burning deck Subject(s): Hemans, Felicia (1793-1835) CASABIANCA First Line: Love's the boy stood on the burning deck Last Line: On deck. And love's the burning boy Subject(s): Hemans, Felicia (1793-1835) CHEMIN DE FER First Line: Alone on the railroad track CIRQUE D'HIVER First Line: Across the floor flits the mechanical toy Last Line: We stare and say, 'well, we have come this far' COLD SPRING First Line: A cold spring: %the violet was flawed on the lawn Last Line: These particular glowing tributes %every evening now throughout the summer Subject(s): Spring COLDER THE AIR First Line: We must admire her perfect aim Last Line: It is this clock that later falls %in wheels and chimes of leaf and cloud CONVERSATION First Line: The tumult in the heart COOTCHIE Poem Text First Line: Cootchie, miss lula's servant, lies in marl Subject(s): Mourning; Bereavement COOTCHIE First Line: Cootchie, miss lula's servant, lies in marl Subject(s): Mourning CRUSOE IN ENGLAND Poem Text Recitation First Line: A new volcano has erupted Subject(s): Robinson Crusoe CRUSOE IN ENGLAND First Line: A new volcano has erupted Last Line: And friday, my dear friday, died of measles %seventeen years ago come march Subject(s): Robinson Crusoe DEAD First Line: The winter is her lover now Last Line: For winter holds his breath and see-- %this frost upon the grass DEATH & LIFE OF A SEVERINO, SELS. DRUNKARD First Line: When I was three, I watched the salem fire Last Line: I'm half-drunk now... %and all I'm telling you may be a lie ELECTRICAL STORM First Line: Dawn an unsympathetic yellow FAUSTINA, OR ROCK ROSES First Line: Tended by faustina %yes in a crazy house Last Line: And womders oh, whence come %all the petals FILLING STATION Poem Text Recitation First Line: Oh, but it is dirty! Subject(s): Automobiles - Service Stations; Gasoline Stations; Filling Stations; Automobile Repair Shops FILLING STATION First Line: Oh, but it is dirty! Last Line: Somebody loves us all Subject(s): Automobiles - Service Stations FIRST DEATH IN NOVA SCOTIA Poem Text First Line: In the cold, cold parlor / my mother laid out arthur Subject(s): Death; Nova Scotia; Dead, The FIRST DEATH IN NOVA SCOTIA First Line: In the cold, cold parlor %my mother laid out arthur Last Line: With his eyes shut up so tight %and the roads deep in snow? Subject(s): Death; Nova Scotia FISH First Line: I caught a tremendous fish Last Line: And I let the fish go Subject(s): Environment; Fishing And Fishermen; Sea; Sports FLORIDA Poem Text First Line: The state with the prettiest name Subject(s): Americans; United States; America FLORIDA First Line: The state with the prettiest name Last Line: Whimpers and speaks in the throat %of the indian princess Subject(s): Americans; United States FLORIDA DESERTA First Line: Oh summer clouds that come so low, come down Last Line: Restore to every sun-bleached, spectral brain %its coldest blue and green FOR C.W.B First Line: Let us live in a lull of the long winter winds Last Line: And eat them for tea from two lily-white bowls FROM THE COUNTRY TO THE CITY First Line: The long, long legs Last Line: We bring a message from the long black length of body: %'subside,' it begs and begs FROM TROLLOPE'S JOURNAL First Line: As far as statues go, so far there's not GENTLEMAN OF SHALOTT First Line: Which eye's his eye? GOING TO THE BAKERY First Line: Instead of gazing at the sea HOUSE GUEST Poem Text First Line: The sad seamstress Last Line: An our hems crooked forever? Subject(s): Seamstresses HOUSE GUEST First Line: The sad seamstress Last Line: And our fates will be like hers, %and our hems crooked forever? Subject(s): Seamstresses IMAGINARY ICEBERG First Line: We'd rather have the iceberg than the ship Last Line: To see them so: fleshed, fair, erected indivisible IN THE WAITING ROOM First Line: In worcester, massachusetts, %I went with aunt consuelo Last Line: And it was still the fifth %of february, 1918 Subject(s): Aunts; Children; Dentists; Imagination; Labor And Laborers; Pain; World War I INSOMNIA Poem Text First Line: The moon in the bureau mirror Subject(s): Love INSOMNIA First Line: The moon in the bureau mirror Last Line: Is now deep, and you love me Subject(s): Love INVITATION TO MISS MARIANNE MOORE Poem Text First Line: From brooklyn, over the brooklyn bridge, on this fine morning Subject(s): Americans; Moore, Marianne (1887-1972); United States; America INVITATION TO MISS MARIANNE MOORE First Line: From brooklyn, over the brooklyn bridge, on this fine morning Last Line: Please come flying Subject(s): Americans; Moore, Marianne (1887-1972); United States IT IS MARVELLOUS Poem Text First Line: It is marvellous to wake up together Last Line: Change as our kisses are changing without our thinking Subject(s): Love; Morning IT IS MARVELLOUS First Line: It is marvellous to wake up together Last Line: Change as our kisses are changing without our thinking Subject(s): Love; Morning JERONIMO'S HOUSE Poem Text First Line: My house, my fairy / palace, is Last Line: Glued with spit Subject(s): Houses JERONIMO'S HOUSE First Line: My house, my fairy %palace, is Last Line: My shelter from %the hurricane Subject(s): Houses LARGE BAD PICTURE Poem Text First Line: Remembering the strait of belle isle or Subject(s): Paintings & Painters LARGE BAD PICTURE First Line: Remembering the strait of belle isle or Last Line: It would be hard to say what brought them there, %commerce or contemplation Subject(s): Paintings And Painters LATE AIR Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: From a magician's midnight sleeve Last Line: Burn quietly, where the dew cannot climb Subject(s): Love LATE AIR First Line: From a magician's midnight sleeve Last Line: Burning quietly, where the dew cannot climb Subject(s): Love LESSON 10 Poem Text First Line: What is a map? Last Line: Southeast? In the northeast? In the southwest? Variant Title(s): Simplicity [and Sweet Neglect] Subject(s): Maps; Nature LESSON 10 First Line: What is a map? Last Line: In the southeast? In the northeast? %in the southwest? Variant Title(s): Simplicity [and Sweet Neglect Subject(s): Nature LESSON 6 First Line: What is geography? Subject(s): Geography LESSON 6 First Line: What is geography? Last Line: Of what is the earth's surface composed? %land and water Subject(s): Nature LESSON VI First Line: What is geography? %a description of the earth's surface Last Line: Of what is the earth's surface composed? %land and water Subject(s): Nature LETTER TO N.Y. Poem Text First Line: In your next letter I wish you'd say Subject(s): Labor & Laborers; Youth; Work; Workers LETTER TO N.Y. First Line: In your next letter I wish you'd say Last Line: What are you doing and where you are going Subject(s): Labor And Laborers; Youth LINES WRITTEN IN THE FANNIE FARMER COOKBOOK Poem Text Recitation First Line: You won't become a gourmet* cook Subject(s): Cookbooks LITTLE EXERCISE Poem Text Recitation First Line: Think of the storm roaming the sky uneasily Subject(s): Mangroves; Storms LITTLE EXERCISE First Line: Think of the storm roaming the sky uneasily Last Line: Think of him as uninjured, barely disturbed Subject(s): Mangroves; Storms LOVE LIES SLEEPING First Line: Earliest morning, switching all the tracks LULLABY FOR THE CAT Poem Text First Line: Minnow, go to sleep and dream Last Line: Sleep, and let them come Subject(s): Animals; Cats LULLABY FOR THE CAT First Line: Minnow, go to sleep and dream Last Line: Sleep, and let them come Subject(s): Animals; Cats MAN-MOTH First Line: Here, above, %cracks in the buildings are filled with battered moonlight Last Line: Cool as from underground springs and pure enough to drink Subject(s): Animals; Human Rights MANNERS Poem Text First Line: My grandfather said to me Subject(s): Etiquette; Grandparents; Manners; Courtesy; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers MANNERS First Line: My grandfather said to me Last Line: So we all got down and walked, %as our good manners required Subject(s): Etiquette; Grandparents MANUELZINHO First Line: Half squatter, half tenant (no rent Last Line: Again I promise to try MAP First Line: Land lies in water; it is shadowed green Last Line: More delicate than the historians' are the map-makers' colors MIRACLE FOR BREAKFAST First Line: At six o'clock we were waiting for coffee Last Line: A window across the river caught the sun %as if the miracle were working, on the wrong balcony MONUMENT First Line: Now can you see the monument? It is of wood Last Line: A piece of sculpture, or poem, or monument, %and all of wood. Watch it closely MOOSE First Line: From narrow provinces %of fish and bread and tea Last Line: Then there's a dim %smell of moose, an acrid %smell of gasoline Subject(s): Moose NORTH HAVEN First Line: I can make out the rigging of a schooner Last Line: The words won't change again. Sad friend, you cannot change O BREATH First Line: Beneath that loved and celebrated breast ONE ART Poem Text First Line: The art of losing isn't hard to master Subject(s): Love - Loss Of; Mourning; Bereavement ONE ART First Line: The art of losing isn't hard to master Last Line: Though it may look like (write it!) like disaster Subject(s): Love - Loss Of; Mourning OVER 2,000 ILLUSTRATIONS AND A COMPLETE CONCORDANCE Poem Text Recitation First Line: Thus should have been our travels Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips OVER 2000 ILLUSTRATIONS AND A COMPLETE CONCORDANCE First Line: Thus should have been our travels Last Line: And looked and looked our infant sight away PARIS, 7 A.M. First Line: I make a trip to each clock in the apartment PINK DOG (RIO DE JANEIRO) Poem Text First Line: The sun is blazing and the sky is blue Subject(s): Animals; Carnivals; Dogs; Rio De Janeiro PINK DOG (RIO DE JANEIRO) First Line: The sun is blazing and the sky is blue Last Line: Dress up! Dress up and dance at carnival! Subject(s): Animals; Carnivals; Dogs; Rio De Janeiro POEM Poem Text First Line: About the size of an old-style dollar bill Subject(s): Nova Scotia POEM First Line: About the size of an old-style dollar bill Last Line: The yet-to-be-dismantled elms, the geese Subject(s): Nova Scotia PRODIGAL First Line: The brown enormous odor he lived by Last Line: But it took him a long time %finally to make his mind up to go home Variant Title(s): The Prodigal: The Brown Enormous Odor He Lived B Subject(s): Prodigal Son; Smells PRODIGAL: BUT EVENINGS THE FIRST STAR CAME TO WARN. First Line: But evenings the first star came to warn. Last Line: Finally to make his mind up to go home. QUAI D'ORLEANS First Line: Each barge on the river easily tows QUESTIONS OF TRAVEL Poem Text First Line: There are too many waterfalls here; the crowded streams Subject(s): Rivers; Travel; Journeys; Trips QUESTIONS OF TRAVEL First Line: There are too many waterfalls here; the crowded streams Last Line: And here, or there -- no. Should we have stayed at home, %wherever that may be? Subject(s): Rivers; Travel RAIN TOWARDS MORNING First Line: The great light cage has broken up in the air REPRIMAND First Line: If you taste too often, inquisitive tongue RIVERMAN First Line: I got up in the night Last Line: The dolphin singled me out; %luandinha seconded it Subject(s): Brazil; Dolphins; Witchcraft And Witches ROOSTERS Poem Text Recitation First Line: At four o'clock / in the gun-metal blue dark Subject(s): Roosters; Cocks ROOSTERS First Line: At four o'clock %in the gun-metal blue dark Last Line: Faithful as enemy, or friend Subject(s): Roosters SALEM WILLOWS First Line: Oh, salem willows, %where I rode a golden lion Last Line: And aunt maud sat and knitted %and knitted, waiting for me SANDPIPER Poem Text First Line: The roaring alongside he takes for granted Subject(s): Birds; Sandpipers SANDPIPER First Line: The roaring alongside he takes for granted Last Line: The millions of grains are black, white, tan, and gray, %mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst Subject(s): Birds; Sandpipers SEASCAPE Poem Text First Line: This celestial seascape, with white herons got up as angels Subject(s): Sea; Ocean SEASCAPE First Line: This celestial seascape, with white herons got up as angels Last Line: And when it gets dark he will remember something %strongly worded to say on the subject Subject(s): Sea SESTINA Poem Text First Line: September rain falls on the house Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives SESTINA First Line: September rain falls on the house Last Line: The grandmother sings to the marvellous stove %and the child draws another inscrutable house Subject(s): Family Life SHAMPOO First Line: The still explosions on the rocks Last Line: Battered and shiny like the moon SLEEPING ON THE CEILING Poem Text First Line: It is so peaceful on the ceiling Subject(s): Sleep SLEEPING ON THE CEILING First Line: It is so peaceful on the ceiling Last Line: But oh, that we could sleep up there Subject(s): Sleep SLEEPING STANDING UP First Line: As we lie down to sleep the world turns half away SOME DREAMS THEY FORGOT First Line: The dead birds fell, but no one had seen them fly SONG First Line: Summer is over upon the sea SONG FOR THE RAINY SEASON First Line: Hidden, oh hidden %in the high fog Last Line: Waterfalls shrivel %in the steady sun SONGS FOR A COLORED SINGER Poem Text Recitation First Line: A washing hangs upon the line Subject(s): African Americans - Song & Music SONGS FOR A COLORED SINGER First Line: A washing hangs upon the line Last Line: For this occasion's all his fault, %the time has come to call a halt Subject(s): African Americans - Song And Music SONNET Recitation SONNET First Line: Caught-the bubble %in the spirit-level Last Line: Flying wherever %it feels like, gay! SONNET First Line: I am in need of music that would flow Last Line: Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep SQUATTER'S CHILDREN Poem Text First Line: On the unbreathing sides of hills Last Line: Your rights in rooms of falling rain Subject(s): Children; Childhood SQUATTER'S CHILDREN First Line: On the unbreathing sides of hills Last Line: Its soggy documents retain %your rights in rooms of falling rain Subject(s): Children STREET BY THE CEMETERY First Line: The people on little verandahs in the moonlight %are looking at the graveyard Last Line: Floating in a cluster %in the dirty harbor SUICIDE OF A MODERATE DICTATOR Poem Text First Line: This is a day when truths will out, perhaps SUICIDE OF A MODERATE DICTATOR First Line: This is a day when truths will out, perhaps Last Line: Segmented rainbow steadily hung above it. %at eight two little boys were flying kites SUMMER'S DREAM First Line: To the sagging wharf SUNDAY, 4 A.M. First Line: An endless and flooded THE ARMADILLO; FOR ROBERT LOWELL Poem Text First Line: This is the time of year Subject(s): Animals; Armadillos; Birds; Brazil; Owls; Brazilians THE BIGHT Poem Text First Line: At low tide like this how sheer the water is Subject(s): Nature; Wharves; Piers THE BURGLAR OF BABYLON Poem Text First Line: On the fair green hills of rio Subject(s): Burglars; Crime & Criminals; Rio De Janeiro THE FISH Poem Text First Line: I caught a tremendous fish Subject(s): Environment; Fish & Fishing; Sea; Sports; Environmental Protection; Ecology; Conservation; Anglers; Ocean THE MAN-MOTH Poem Text First Line: Here, above, / cracks in the buildings are filled with battered moonlight Subject(s): Animals; Human Rights THE MOOSE Poem Text First Line: From narrow provinces / of fish and bread and tea Subject(s): Moose THE MOUNTAIN Poem Text First Line: At evening, something behind me Subject(s): Aging THE PRODIGAL Poem Text First Line: The brown enormous odor he lived by Variant Title(s): The Prodigal: The Brown Enormous Odor He Lived By Subject(s): Prodigal Son; Smells; Odors; Aromas; Fragrances THE RIVERMAN Poem Text First Line: I got up in the night Last Line: Luandinah seconded it Subject(s): Brazil; Dolphins; Witchcraft & Witches; Brazilians; Porpoises THE WEED Poem Text First Line: I dreamed that dead, and meditating Last Line: For a year, a minute, an hour Subject(s): Dreams; Nightmares THREE VALENTINES First Line: Love with his gilded bow and crystal arrows TROUVEE First Line: Oh, why should a hen TWELFTH MORNING; OR WHAT YOU WILL First Line: Like a first coat of whitewash when it's wet Last Line: The day of kings' UNBELIEVER First Line: He sleeps on the top of a mast Last Line: It is as hard as diamonds; it wants to destroy us all UNDER THE WINDOW: OURO PRETO Poem Text First Line: The conversations are simple: about food Last Line: A fountain, where all the world sgill stops Subject(s): Food & Eating UNDER THE WINDOW: OURO PRETO First Line: The conversations are simple: about food Last Line: Like tatters of the morpho butterfly Subject(s): Food And Eating VAGUE POEM First Line: The trip west %I think I dreamed that trip Last Line: Exacting roses from the body %and the even darker, accurate, rose of sex VARICK STREET Poem Text Recitation First Line: At night the factories Last Line: Sell you, of course, my dear, and you'll sell me Subject(s): Modern Man; New York City; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple VARICK STREET First Line: At night the factories Subject(s): Modern Man; New York City VIEW OF THE CAPITOL FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS First Line: Moving from left to left, the light VISITS TO ST. ELIZABETHS Poem Text First Line: This is the house of bedlam Last Line: That lies in the house of bedlam Subject(s): Insanity; Madness; Mental Illness VISITS TO ST. ELIZABETHS First Line: This is the house of bedlam Last Line: That lies in the house of bedlam Subject(s): Insanity WADING AT WELLFLEET First Line: In one of the assyrian wars WEED First Line: I dreamed that dead, and meditating Last Line: And answered then: 'I grow it,' it said, %'but to divide your heart again' Subject(s): Dreams WHILE SOMEONE TELEPHONES First Line: Wasted, wasted minutes that couldn't be worse Last Line: Might they not be his green gay eyes WIT First Line: Wait. Let me think a minute,' you said |
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