Elizabeth Bishop’s Sestina

Introduction
In Elizabeth Bishop's "Sestina," she unfolds a poetic tale about memories, loss, and the
unstoppable march of time. The poem's unique structure, a sestina, adds a challenging
twist by repeating certain words. But beyond the structure, Bishop paints a vivid picture of
the complexities of being human. Through carefully chosen words and images, she takes
us on a journey through her thoughts, where the past and present come together in a
powerful way. "Sestina" showcases Bishop's skill in turning everyday language into
something profound, urging us to explore the layers of life's experiences.
Elizabeth Bishop
● Elizabeth Bishop, born in 1911, was a distinguished American poet whose life spanned from the early 20th century to
the late 1970s.
● Bishop's poetry is characterized by its precision and keen observation of detail. Her ability to capture moments with
clarity and nuance set her apart in the realm of American poetry.
● Bishop's roots can be traced to Worcester, Massachusetts, providing a geographical and cultural context to her
upbringing and early influences.
● While Bishop did not produce an extensive volume of poetry, the quality and impact of her work earned her high
regard in literary circles.
● Bishop's exceptional poetic talent was recognized when she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1956, a
testament to her contribution to American literature.
● Bishop's poetry often explores themes of loss, memory, and the complexities of human relationships, earning her a
prominent place in 20th-century American literature.
Definition of a Sestina
● A sestina is a specific form of poetry characterized by a complex
structure. It consists of six six-line stanzas, known as sexains,
followed by a concluding three-line stanza called a tercet.
● The defining feature of a sestina is its intricate pattern of word
repetition. In each of the six stanzas, the end words of the lines
follow a specific, predetermined order. The pattern is typically
represented by numbers, such as 123456, 615243, and so on,
creating a unique and challenging framework for the poet.
● This repetition of end words serves as a poetic constraint, forcing the
poet to explore different meanings and nuances within the
constraints of the chosen words. It transforms the sestina into a
poetic puzzle, requiring both skill and creativity to navigate.
 on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
Sestina hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
September rain falls on the house. She shivers and says she thinks the house
In the failing light, the old grandmother feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove, It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
reading the jokes from the almanac, I know what I know, says the almanac.
laughing and talking to hide her tears.
With crayons the child draws a rigid house
She thinks that her equinoctial tears and a winding pathway. Then the child
and the rain that beats on the roof of the house puts in a man with buttons like tears
were both foretold by the almanac, and shows it proudly to the grandmother.
but only known to a grandmother.
The iron kettle sings on the stove. But secretly, while the grandmother
She cuts some bread and says to the child, busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
It's time for tea now; but the child
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears from between the pages of the almanac
dance like mad on the hot black stove, into the flower bed the child
the way the rain must dance on the house. has carefully placed in the front of the house.
Tidying up, the old grandmother
hangs up the clever almanac Time to plant tears, says the almanac.
The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house.
Background on the poem
● "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop was first published in 1956 in her poetry collection titled "A Cold Spring."
● This collection marked a significant period in Bishop's career and received critical acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize
for Poetry in 1956.
● The 1960s, during which "Sestina" was published, was a time of social and cultural upheaval. The civil rights
movement, the Vietnam War, and the counterculture were shaping the socio-political landscape.
Significance of the form
● The chosen structure of "Sestina" goes beyond being a mere stylistic choice; it is a deliberate construction that plays a crucial
role in shaping the reader's experience of the poem.

Repetition Creates a Rhythmic and Hypnotic Effect:

● The repetition of end words across the six stanzas creates a rhythmic cadence, a sort of poetic heartbeat that echoes throughout
the entire composition. This deliberate recurrence contributes to a hypnotic effect, drawing the reader into a trance-like
engagement with the poem.

Emphasis on Themes and Emotions:

● This rhythmic and hypnotic effect is not arbitrary; it serves a purpose. It acts as a literary device, emphasizing certain themes and
emotions embedded in the poem. The repetition becomes a sort of refrain, underscoring the emotional landscape that Bishop
seeks to evoke.
Themes
Memory and Loss: Family and Relationships:

● In "Sestina," the poet talks a lot about remembering ● The poem is like a peek into the poet's life. She tells us
things and feeling sad about losing people. The words about her family, how her dad is not there anymore,
come back again and again, like a song you can't and how her relationship with her mom is
forget. The poet, Elizabeth Bishop, uses this to show complicated. These personal stories are like threads
how memories stick around, even if the people or woven into the poem. Lines like:
moments are gone. Lines like: ● "And there my father as he took his glass."
● "Time collapses between the lips of strangers" ● "And my mother held my sister's hand."
● "and the room goes mad with thistledown." ● These words help us see into the poet's world and feel
● These lines help us feel how memories can be strong the emotions tied to family.
and make us think about people we miss.
Time and Change:

● "Sestina" is like a thinking poem. It talks about time moving on and things changing. The words come around and around, like
the hands on a clock. The poem tells us that time keeps going, and things don't stay the same. Lines like:
● "Time is what we want."
● "It was made of air."
● These lines help us understand that time is important, but it's also something we can't hold onto.
Imagery and symbolism
The poem is like a painting with words. Bishop uses language Glass Door:
to create images that feel real. For example: ● The glass door in the poem is more than just a
● "Time collapses between the lips of strangers" door. It becomes a symbol, a way of looking
● "and the room goes mad with thistledown." at the world. It represents a barrier between
These lines make us imagine time being like a collapse and a the speaker and something beyond. Lines like:
room filled with delicate thistledown, creating a sense of ● "A glass door!"
fragility and fleeting moments. ● "I have said it over and over."
Thistledown:
● Thistledown, like tiny bits of fluff, is another
symbol in the poem. It's delicate and light,
just like memories that float around. Lines
like:
● "Time collapses between the lips of
strangers"
● "and the room goes mad with
thistledown."
Literary devices
Repetition: Enjambment:

In "Sestina," repetition emerges as a powerful literary device that Enjambment, a clever technique employed by Bishop in "Sestina,"
captivates the reader. The poem's repeated end-word pattern, a unique involves carrying a sentence's continuity across multiple lines,
structure known as a sestina, serves as the backbone of Bishop's defying the conventional boundaries of line breaks. This fluidity
artistic expression. The deliberate recurrence of words in this pattern adds a dynamic quality to the poem, creating a sense of
creates a rhythmic cadence, akin to a poetic heartbeat, drawing the uninterrupted movement. The sentences spill over from one line to
reader into a mesmerizing dance with language. the next, contributing to the overall flow of thought and emotion.

Connection to Themes:
Caesura:

This repetition is not arbitrary; it intricately weaves into the thematic

In tandem with enjambment, Bishop utilizes caesura, intentional
elements of the poem. Through the cyclical nature of repetition,
pauses within lines, to shape the poem's rhythm and meaning.
Bishop reinforces the central themes of memory, loss, and the
These pauses act as subtle checkpoints, prompting the reader to
inexorable passage of time. The persistent return of certain words
pause and reflect. The strategic placement of caesurae adds a layer
echoes the persistence of memories and the inevitable march of
of nuance to the poem's cadence, influencing the reader's
moments, enriching the reader's connection to the emotional
landscape of "Sestina." engagement with the unfolding narrative.
Literary Criticism
Seamus Heaney discusses the themes and structure of Elizabeth Bishop's style of writing is characterized by a keen gift
Elizabeth Bishop's "Sestina," describing the poem's reflexive for observation, a certain self-conquest, and a temperamental
function and its relation to another Bishop poem, "The wariness. She is described as fastidious rather than rhapsodic,
Monument." Heaney notes the poem's enigmatic quality and its with a chronic detachment that is balanced by intense
ability to express a withdrawn pressure or inscrutable purpose. attentiveness and precision. Bishop scrutinizes and interrogates
He also comments on Bishop's reticence and the intensity of her things before giving her assent, and she is more of a sympathetic
descriptive fidelity, suggesting that her poetry overcomes its adjudicator than a cheerleader. Her poetry is noted for its
guardedness and salutes the variety of things with thorough professional thoroughness, technical and formal perfections, and
assistance. (1995) is candidly engaged with observing the world and discovering
meaning. (Bloom, 2009)
“As the child of “Sestina” takes up her crayon to The title, “Sestina,” appears to simply identify the poetic form
draw “a rigid house”, the reader should not fail to that Bishop chose for her story: the sestina is a complex,
interwoven structure of six stanzas, wherein six end-words
imagine a similar scene in which the mature woman,
repeat themselves in a set pattern. Reading this poem,
the poet Elizabeth Bishop, picks up a pen to however, we do not experience it as a display of cold or
construct her own rigid house, the rigid structure of abstract mechanics. Instead, it is raw and deeply emotional,
the sestina. On this level, “Sestina” becomes a poem for all that the empirical details of the underlying sorrow
writing itself-about the poet’s survey of her past and (what it is actually “about”) are concealed from the reader. We
the absence of answers there. Both child and “understand” the sadness without “knowing” its source.
(Rogers, 2014)
grandmother in “Sestina” become characters, even
selves, peopling Bishop’s psyche; together, as
examples of a poet’s projection and displacement,
they thus represent a parable of Bishop’s poetic
process. (Lankford, 1993)
Elizabeth Bishop's "Sestina" reflects autobiographical elements and explores themes of heredity and emotional legacies. The poem resonates
with details from Bishop's life, particularly her childhood experience in Nova Scotia after her mother was committed to an asylum. It also
transcends the specifics of her own life, engaging with the shared human experience of unspoken sadness and the transmission of emotions
and traits across generation.

Elizabeth Bishop's "Sestina" uses its form to mirror the circular nature of heredity and the emotional legacies passed down through
generations. The poem's repetitive structure reflects the patterns of inheritance, akin to the spiraling double helix of DNA, suggesting that
familial sorrows and traits are inescapable and interwoven into our being. The interplay of words and images in the poem, like the almanac and
the Marvel Stove, evoke a sense of predetermined fate and the transmission of unspoken sadness, paralleling the way DNA carries genetic
information and predispositions. (Rogers, 2014)
Conclusion
In conclusion Elizabeth Bishop's "Sestina" lingers in our thoughts. Her skill with words,
seen in the repeated ones, speaks to life's cycles. The poem is a timeless journey through
memories and time. Bishop's words invite us to reflect on our own experiences. As we
finish this poetic adventure, "Sestina" remains a powerful reminder of how words can
capture our shared human story.
References
Baym, N. (2003). The Norton Anthology of American Literature. W. W. Norton.

Bloom, H. (2009). Elizabeth Bishop. Infobase Publishing.

Heaney, S. (1995). The Redress of Poetry. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Lankford, R. (1993). Bishop’s Sestina. The Explicator, 52(1), 57–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.1993.9938740

Rogers, J. (2014). Life forms: Elizabeth Bishop’s “Sestina” and DNA structure. Unified Fields, 66–82.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780773596498-006