Saturday, April 13, 2013

A Rough Map to a Poet's Works

At this point, it goes without saying that Hollander's discussion of Elizabeth Bishop's poetry has interested me in it. But the return to matters literary in this chapter may have helped, since there isn't a question of syllables or meter in sight.

The topic, or major concern of her poetry is also of interest to me. Having named the collection that Hollander spends most of the chapter discussing Geography III, and thanks to Hollander's pointing out that there are a one and a two in the sequence, it's clear that Bishop's foci in much of her poetry are space and place. These two ideas are potent, indeed, since they underlie so much of everyday life.

However, much like the vastness of a space represented in miniature on a map, Hollander ultimately acknowledges that Bishop's work deserves much more than a chapter. And I would add that such a writing would get a full reading from me (after having read her poetry, of course).

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