The Complete Poems, 1927-1979

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Elizabeth Bishop
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release date:	01 April, 1984
List price:	~~$15.00~~
Our price:	$10.20 that is 32% off!

The Complete Poems, 1927-1979

Average rating: Stars

a brilliant collection by an equally brilliant poet

This is a beautifully comprehensive collection of Bishop's work, complete with translations from Portuguese (she spent much of her adult life in Brazil) and verses she wrote in her youth that will be new to most readers.

Bishop wrote far less than most of her contemporaries, but the work in this slim volume cements her (at least in my mind!) as one of the foremost female poets of her generation.

The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 - Elizabeth Bishop

one of the best in american poetry

Elizabeth Bishop is one of the greatest American poets we've ever had--only Frost and perhaps maybe Whitman are more important. She is certainly Emily Dickinson's equal, and in my opinion, a finer poet. When discussing American poetry, Bishop can't be ignored. Her imagery, her use of form, her command over the language is rarely matched, and this collection contains all her work. There's her first book, _North & South_, which is one of the finest volumes of poetry produced. You'll find poems like "The Map," "The Man-Moth," "The Weed," "The Imaginary Iceberg," "Seascape," and the masterful poem, "The Fish." _A Cold Spring_ follows, containing "At the Fishhouse" and "Letter to N.Y." "The Armadillo" (Bishop's poem to Robert Lowell), "Filling Station," "Visits to St. Elizabeths" and "Sestina" (one of the few poems in this form that actually works) follows in _Questions of Travel_. Then there is a selection of uncollected work (1969) before we hit _Geography III_ which contains two of her best poems, "Cruso in England" and "One Art"--which is in my opinion her best poem. The collection rounds out with some more uncollected poems, juvenalia, and some fine translations. Overall, you have an important book by one of our most important poets.

Elizabeth Bishop - The Complete Poems, 1927-1979

Can't be ignored

No matter what sort of poetry you are drawn to--and here I include the Beowulf poet, the Metaphysical poets, the Modernists, etc.--Elizabeth Bishop can't be ignored. Her poems, from set forms like the villanelle "One Art" ("The art of losing isn't hard to master.") to the patchwork of imagery that is "The Fish" are all at the peak of expression. Bishop demonstrates virtuousity in a number of forms of poetry in this (relatively) slim volume. I especially appreciate her poems on travel and Brazil. This is a dead writer whose ideas of culture are still ahead of our time.

This book is a treasure trove. It rewards multiple readings. Bishop's craftsmanship has ensured that this book will continue to endure even as bigger names of her era fall by the wayside.

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