Elizabeth Bishop has been often associated with the poetical canons of the ‘confessional poetry’ of the 1960s and 1970s. Confessional poetry concentrated mainly on poets, and exposed their insecurities. Bishop was more well-known for her refusal to be part of this movement. The idea of being called a confessional poet, “would have horrified some very professional and discreet authors” (Gioia 19. She seemed to believe that poetry should be kept private. Bishop famously stated that confessional poets should not be found on the page. (Costello 334) Despite her convictions Bishop had a life so full of tragedy and alienation that her work became her way of expressing her feelings. Poetry was a great way for Bishop to express her pain, especially since she had been exposed to so much poetry. Bishop sought to follow the example of her peers in expressing their feelings of self-recovery.
Importantly, it is important to understand both the subtle differences and similarities between Bishops and confessional poems. Confessional poetry is often open to discussing topics not covered in American poetry. These poems often dealt with personal feelings and experiences about death, traumas, depression, and relationships. This reveals a commonality between Bishop and other confessional poetry. Despite her desire to be known beyond the confessional canon’s confines, her work is able to express personal feelings and experiences. Bishop’s unique approach is to go beyond “confessional,” mainly by using formal poetic methods to work through and acknowledge her own pain. Her use of formalistic forms, such as narrative tone, understatement and subtext, allows her to share private experiences in a very personal and subtle way. In the Waiting Room and One Art, we see Elizabeth Bishop using these techniques to express her personal experiences. It is more about reconciling loss in her own life. This is the story of a young girl who has an epiphany while waiting at the dentist for her aunt. Bishop presents this poem as a scene, giving immense details from the exact location–“Worcester, Massachusetts”–to the time of year–“It was winter. It was dark before it got dark” (Bishop159). This prose-like narrative implies that Bishop is telling us an autobiographical story. The poem is autobiographical. This allows us to see that there are two viewpoints. There is one for Elizabeth, the young Elizabeth, and another for the adult. These perspectives work together to reconcile Bishop’s senses of identity. This poem is about a child discovering what it means to be a woman in the world, and an adult using that memory to reconcile her current female identity.
The child is reading a National Geographic filled with images of women being tortured while she waits. She begins to question her identity. (Bishop 160). Because to be a woman, she must become one of these oppressed women, she refuses to think that she is one of them. When the violence against the “black, nude women” described in the magazine connects to her world, she feels even more fearful when her aunt at the dentist’s hears her cries of pain (Bishop159). She sees that there are only one gender, a subordinated group of women. She feels like she’s drowning under the “big dark wave” of responsibilities that comes with being female.
Bishop recalls this experience and explains how it helped her come to terms. The incident is examined in a story-like way by Bishop, and she is able not to be attached to it. She can declare that she’s not that scared little girl, afraid to be rejected. She has lived the responsibilities that Elizabeth feared as a woman and knows how they can be oppressive and harsh. Bishop has now lived her life as an adult woman and is able accept her place in society. As the final verse of the poem shows, she is able to continue living her life.
When viewed in the context Bishop’s own life, “One Art” is undoubtedly a more personal and deeply moving poem than any other. In 1976, Bishop published “One Art” in Geography III. It was written after she had moved from Brazil (which she claimed to have been her only home) and after Lota de Macedo Soares’ suicide. It’s easy to see how “One Art” was created by Bishop in response to these events. This poem is “distinctively Bishopian.” It has a lot of formality, formality and classicism. Yet, it deals openly and honestly with loss. (McCabe 27). We see that her repeated actions are a form of rationalization for her tragedies. Bishop attempts to minimise her loss by using “a continent” in her story and “her lover” in trivial things such as “lost of door keys” and “an hour wasted” (Bishop, 178). The poem describes how losing a lover can be as mundane and common as losing a watch. The irony of Bishop’s loss is obvious to anyone who has read her story (Bishop, 178). These understatements are used by her to reduce the loss and, in turn, her own pain.
Bishop uses the villanelle poem’s strict formality to help her process her emotions. It’s almost as if the rigid form is trapping her pain, forcing her to “master” it and move on (Bishop 178). The subtle beauty of Bishop’s technique is in Kathleen Spivak’s “surprising irregularity”. Spivak 507 describes how Bishop, a perfectionist chose to break metric as “significantly and deliberately”. The villanelle form is broken free of the emotional chains that have been enforcing them. Mastering the art and skill of losing is no longer “easy”, but it is “not too difficult”. This suggests that she still feels pain and difficulty when dealing with loss. The pain cannot be hidden long enough. Although “displays are not possible” and the cry for help is “subdued. Bishop’s “One Art”, which is a collection of poems, has the beauty of revealing and concealing her emotions. She also attempts to master loss, a painful emotion that can never be completely controlled.
It’s like participating in an archaeological dig, reading Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry. Both the poet as well as the reader are looking through the words, deciphering intent, and uncovering truths about the poetry to discover the poet’s consciousness. Bishop’s poetry was far more than simply revealing her sorrows to the world. So, calling her a confessional poet is a simplistic way of describing her. Instead, her poetry demonstrates a mastery of “concealing the personal” (Spivak 496). It is sensitively subdued and acknowledges personal emotions while reconciling the poet’s experiences. Bishop was able to share these emotions and deal with them through poetry while keeping a sense of discretion and conduct.
