The Fish

Elizabeth Bishop

Central to our understanding of Bishop's work is our understanding of the tense moment when the poet turns her gaze from herself to the world. As she incorporated the natural world into her poetry, Bishop developed a voice that remains one of the most unique in American poetry. She captures subtle moments that are deeply felt and elegantly rendered, and in this tradition she was influenced by Marianne Moore with whom, beginning in 1934, she maintained a lifelong friendship. Bishop often built poems out of moments experienced in her journeys.

Bishop suffered from bronchitis and asthma in her youth. ...