Bishop and Roethke Poems

The two poems by Elizabeth Bishop that spoke to me were “The Fish” and “Filling Station.” I interpreted the fish as a survivor and the hooks and lines caught in the fish’s mouth were “like medals with their ribbons” (Bishop 61). The first part of the poem seemed to describe the fish as ugly “battered and venerable and homely” (Bishop 7-8). But as the reader reads further in the poem the fish makes a transformation of not homely but proud and tattered. The reader sees the struggle for survival and how the fish continues to fight and suddenly the fish is a symbol of a worthy vanquished hero. The fish is set free to continue the good fight.

The poem “Filling Station” represented the grey common everyday existence of a family that is nondescript and colorless. The only color is provided by comic books. Everything is monochromatic, and covered with a greasy film of dirt. The last part of the poem indicated that someone cared enough to embroider a doily, water the plants and arrange the cans to spell out Esso. “Someone loves us all.” (Bishop 42). Everyone’s life has meaning and everyone seeks out beauty and order in their life no matter how drab it appears to the outsider.

Roethke” poem titled “Elegy” was like a poem describing my Aunt Annie. She was an independent feisty old woman who fought for the underdog. I loved that you could tell so much about the poem’s character in the fact that she used the misshapen fruit for herself but the pick of the crop was saved to be pickled and then given to someone less fortunate than her. Her place in heaven’s supermarket was assured and her character remained true as she terrorizes the butcher. No saintly hymn singing celestial being is she but a determined righteous fighter even in heaven.

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The fish

As I read, The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop, it encouraged me to think about childhood memories that I shared with my sister, and my father.
When the author explained the fish by saying, "and the pink swim-bladder," I began to think of when my father took my sister and I fishing. If we caught a fish, we would dissect it before cooking it. My father would quiz us to see if we knew the different parts of the fish for educational purposes.
The author also said, "I looked into his eyes which were far larger than mine." As a young child, it was hard killing anything or seeing the dead fish. I remember never being able to remove the fishes eyes and would often leave the job for my sister to do. She didn't like it either, but would do it to make me happy. This story is very touching too me, because it triggered such special memories. These are memories that I haven't thought about it a very long time, and truly memories I will cherish and hold onto forever.
"A green line, frayed at the wens where he broke it, two heavier lines, and a fine thread still crimped from the strain and snap when it broke and he got away." This caused me to think about our brave soldiers, and their constant fight for survival. Today, I turned on the news to a story about a young solider that is being held captive by Serbia, and this quote brought me hope that he too can be like the fish and break free.
Overall, Elizabeth Bishop's stories were very rewarding to read, because with though her poems had a particular focus, they aren't limited to only that focus. The Fish, triggered different thoughts and memories, and allowed my imagination to run freely. The power of a poem is truly amazing! After reading this poem, do you ssimy just see a fish, or something more?  Was there ever a time in your life where you had to fight  or should courage , such as the fish did in this story?

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Man Moth

I really found The Man-Moth fascinating. Every aspect of it. Even the structure and how the stanzas are set up is interesting. Every stanza has 8 lines, and the first line is always the shortest and indented. The reasoning behind it eludes me, but since it's a pretty specific structure I feel like there has to be a reason that's just going over my head. The poem's specific style of surrealism just happens to click with my personal interests really well, with the kind of old school pulpy sci-fi horror idea of a both man and moth creature that lives underground and only comes out at night, but at the same time being incredibly innocent and hopeful and not really a creepy poem at all. I liked how the Man-Moth has a dream, knows he'll fail, but tries again every night with the same results, and get's discouraged by it, but never lets it beat him. His dream is physically impossible, flying through the moon that he sees as a hole in the sky, yet his dream is that important to him that he can't just let it go without some sort of fight. I'm not totally sure what I think about the final stanza though, but it really stands out and makes itself important to the rest of the poem by acknowledging that this creature lives in our world and how it would interact with you. I'm not totally sure what I think it's saying, but what I've got right now is that the tear is kind of the innocence and hopefulness that keeps the Man Moth going every night, that if it can get away with it, the Man Moth will always work for it's dream, but if caught and pressured the other way, the Man Moth will surrender the thing that's most important to it out of the shame of dreaming so big and working so hard for such an impossible dream. But I'm still processing it and deciding how I feel about that part. I just really wanted to talk about this poem since it stuck out so strongly to me compared to really anything else this section so far, which although has been fine, also hasn't been what I've found the most interesting this semester.

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The World Around Us

Sometimes we forget that life doesn't revolve around ourselves. That's the feeling I get after reading Elizabeth Bishops poem "Filling Station". "Somebody embroidered the doily" (Bishop 2707) this line specifically gave me the feeling of the moment you notice another family in a restaurant, people whose lives have nothing to do with yours. People that most likely will never have an impact on you and yet you notice them, you see them. Who are they, what do they do? At first the poet only sees the filling station for what it is, she doesn't truly notice the people,  they have no bearing on her life but then she looks closer. She sees their personalities, she sees that to them this isn't just a filling station. It might not necessarily be relevant to her life but it is to theirs and she sees that, she questions it. She wonders who these people are, what their world consists of and in truly seeing them she appreciates them, she has a love for them and their truth. I think this is beautiful, to stop thinking about your own life for a moment to really see someone else's. To see their reality and to value that. I think when she questions the filling stations decorations on the porch she's relating it all to herself and that's why to her it doesn't all seem to make sense. But it's important to remove yourself from the surroundings and just observe without personal judgment. Once she does that she sees the reason behind the decorations that she thought seemed odd. She understood that this filling station is loved, these people are loved and it has nothing to do with her. And that's beautiful. I wish more people could see the world and things around them like Bishop does in this poem, to take a moment to remove yourself and appreciate someone else's life despite it having nothing to do with them. But is this possible? Should people see the world through such innocent eyes? Was the poet wrong to not question the living conditions of this family, these children that the comics belonged to? Is living somewhere that could catch fire and explode an adequate living situation for kids? Was Bishop's original assessment still valid, or should her realization that this isn't just another gas station negate her previous feelings and observations all together?

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