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Contents
TitlePage
CopyrightNotice
Acknowledgments
Publisher’sNote
THECOMPLETEPOEMS(1969)
North&South(1946)
TheMap
TheImaginaryIceberg
Casabianca
TheColdertheAir
WadingatWellfleet
ChemindeFer
TheGentlemanofShalott
LargeBadPicture
FromtheCountrytotheCity
TheMan-Moth
LoveLiesSleeping
AMiracleforBreakfast
TheWeed
TheUnbeliever
TheMonument
Paris,7A.M.
Quaid’Orléans
SleepingontheCeiling
SleepingStandingUp
Cirqued’Hiver
Florida
Jerónimo’sHouse
Roosters
Seascape
LittleExercise
TheFish
LateAir
Cootchie
SongsforaColoredSinger
Anaphora
AColdSpring(1955)
AColdSpring
Over2,000IllustrationsandaCompleteConcordance
TheBight
ASummer’sDream
AttheFishhouses
CapeBreton
ViewofTheCapitolfromTheLibraryofCongress
Insomnia
TheProdigal
Faustina,orRockRoses
VarickStreet
FourPoems
I/Conversation
II/RainTowardsMorning
III/WhileSomeoneTelephones
IV/OBreath
LettertoN.Y.
Argument
InvitationtoMissMarianneMoore
TheShampoo
QuestionsofTravel(1965)
BRAZIL
ArrivalatSantos
Brazil,January1,1502
QuestionsofTravel
Squatter’sChildren
Manuelzinho
ElectricalStorm
SongfortheRainySeason
TheArmadillo
TheRiverman
TwelfthMorning;orWhatYouWill
TheBurglarofBabylon
ELSEWHERE
Manners
Sestina
FirstDeathinNovaScotia
FillingStation
Sunday,4A.M.
Sandpiper
FromTrollope’sJournal
VisitstoSt.Elizabeths
TranslationsfromthePortuguese(1969)
CarlosDrummonddeAndrade
Seven-SidedPoem
Don’tKillYourself
TravellingintheFamily
TheTable
JoãoCabraldeMeloNeto
FromTheDeathandLifeofaSeverino
NewandUncollectedWork(1969)
RainySeason;Sub-Tropics
GiantToad
StrayedCrab
GiantSnail
TheHangingoftheMouse
SomeDreamsTheyForgot
Song
HouseGuest
Trouvée
GoingtotheBakery
UndertheWindow:OuroPrêto
GEOGRAPHYIII(1976)
IntheWaitingRoom
CrusoeinEngland
NightCity
TheMoose
12O’ClockNews
Poem
OneArt
TheEndofMarch
Objects&Apparitions
FiveFlightsUp
NEWANDUNCOLLECTEDPOEMS(1978–1979)
Santarém
NorthHaven
PinkDog
Sonnet
UNCOLLECTEDPOEMS(1933–1969)
TheFlood
AWordwithYou
HymntotheVirgin
ThreeSonnetsfortheEyes
I/TidalBasin
II
III
ThreeValentines
TheReprimand
TheMountain
TheWit
ExchangingHats
ANorther—KeyWest
Thank-YouNote
UNCOLLECTEDTRANSLATIONS(1950–1975)
FROMTHEFRENCH
MaxJacob
Rainbow
PatienceofanAngel
Banks
HellIsGraduated
FROMTHEPORTUGUESE
ManuelBandeira
MyLastPoem
BrazilianTragedy
JoaquimCardozo
CemeteryofChildhood
ElegyforMariaAlves
CarlosDrummonddeAndrade
Infancy
IntheMiddleoftheRoad
FamilyPortrait
ViníciusdeMoraes
SonnetofIntimacy
Anonymous
FourSambas
RiodeJaneiro
Kickhimoutofoffice!
Marshál,IllustriousMarshál
Come,mymulata
FROMTHESPANISH
OctavioPaz
TheKeyofWater
AlongGaleanaStreet
TheGrove
JanuaryFirst
APPENDIXI:SelectedUnpublishedManuscriptPoems
ANOTEONTHETEXT
Good-Bye—
“Wewenttothedarkcaveofthestreet-corner…”
InaRoom
ToBeWrittenontheMirrorinWhitewash
TheStreetbytheCemetery
ForA.B.
PleasureSeas
“Itismarvelloustowakeuptogether…”
EdgarAllanPoe&TheJuke-Box
TheSoldierandtheSlot-Machine
“Ihadabaddream…”
TheOwl’sJourney
“Wherearethedollswholovedmeso…”
AShort,SlowLife
SuicideofaModerateDictator
Keaton
DeathofMimoso
ApartmentinLeme
“Dear,mycompass…”
Inventory
ADrunkard
LineswritteninacopyofFannieFarmer’s BostonCookingSchoolCookBook,
giventoFrankBidart
VaguePoem( Vaguelylovepoem)
BreakfastSong
ForGrandfather
SalemWillows
FloridaRevisited
APPENDIXII:ContentsofElizabethBishop’sBooksofPoetryonFirst
Publication,1946–1977
IndexofTitlesandFirstLines
AlsobyElizabethBishop
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Thepublisherwishestoacknowledgethefollowingforassistancewithresearch and the preparation of the text: Dean Rogers, Laura Finkel, and Ron Patkus of Vassar College Libraries Special Collections; Leslie Morris, Heather Cole, Rachel Howarth, James Capobianco, Mary Haegert, Susan Halpert, Emilie Hardman, Micah Hoggatt, Emily Walhout, and Joseph Zajac of the Houghton Library,HarvardUniversity;ElizabethE.FullerandKarenSchoenewaldtofthe Rosenbach Museum and Library; John Cordovez, Nasima Hasnat, Thomas
Lannon,andLeeSpilbergoftheManuscriptsandArchivesDivisionoftheNew York Public Library; and Catherine Barnett, Paulo Britto, Eleanor Chai, Fra
nk Bidart, Eamon Grennan, Paul Keegan, Carmen Oliveira, Barbara Page, Alice Quinn, and Lloyd Schwartz. Thanks above all to Saskia Hamilton, for her painstakingcareinhelpingpreparethisedition.
Publisher’sNote
ThiseditionofElizabethBishop’spoems,printedforthecentenaryofherbirth, includes all the poems and translations she published between 1933 and her death in 1979.* It preserves the distinction Bishop made between poems and translations collected in volumes and those she left out of her books after their appearance in periodicals and anthologies. It follows her selection and arrangement of The Complete Poems (1969) and Geography III (1976), supplemented by four late poems left uncollected at her death. The other published poems and translations that she chose to omit from her two final volumesaregatheredintwopartsinafinalsection.
Bishop recalled that, as a young poet, a visit with Marianne Moore would leave her uplifted and determined “never to try to publish anything until I thoughtI’ddonemybestwithit,nomatterhowmanyyearsittook—orneverto publish at all.” The many poems in her archive that were left nearly finished attesttothestrengthofherresolve. TheCompletePoemswasitselfaselection (“Omissions are not accidents,” as the epigraph to Marianne Moore’s own Complete Poems warns). It provided the occasion for Bishop to winnow and reviseasshegatheredherwork.Revisionshereincludedchangestotheoriginal ordering and contents of her three collections to date ( North & South, A Cold Spring, and Questions of Travel). She offered a selection of her translations of Portuguese poetry, which is integral to the structure of this book (much as
“Objects&Apparitions,”atranslationofapoembyOctavioPaz,isintegralto Geography III), but excluded earlier translations of French poetry. And she chose to include only three early works (“The Hanging of the Mouse,” “Some DreamsTheyForgot,”and“Song”)toaccompanyrecentlyfinishedwork.
As editions of her poems published since her death have demonstrated, Bishopleftbehindalargebodyofothermaterialthatshedidnotfeel“I’ddone my best with” or “did not finish or publish for other reasons” but which is of unquestionableliteraryinterest.Severalpoemsnotpublishedinherlifetimefirst appeared in cleaned-up transcriptions in the 1983 edition of The Complete Poems,1927–1979. From 1983 to 2006, books and articles by Bishop scholars quoted and discussed other texts. These and other discoveries were presented and annotated in Edgar Allan Poe & The Juke-Box (2006). Still more have appeared since in reviews, and in the Library of America’s Elizabeth Bishop: Poems,Prose,andLetters(2008). *Anappendixtothepresentvolumeincludes a group of these manuscript poems, which offer readers a view of Bishop’s workingmethods.
AsecondappendixliststhecontentsofElizabethBishop’sbooksofpoetryas firstpublishedfrom1946to1977.
* The year 1933 has been taken as a point of departure, being the date of the earliest published poem includedinBishop’sselectionfor TheCompletePoems(1969).
*Evenso,thepublishedtextshavenotexhaustedwhatthearchivecontains—includingmanuscriptpoems and translations as yet unpublished, as well as unpublished drafts of eventually completed and published poems,poemsbyothers,songlyrics(blues,ballads)writtendownortranslated,andnotebookentries.
THECOMPLETEPOEMS(1969)
North&South(1946)
TheMap
Landliesinwater;itisshadowedgreen.
Shadows,oraretheyshallows,atitsedges
showingthelineoflongsea-weededledges
whereweedshangtothesimplebluefromgreen.
Ordoesthelandleandowntolifttheseafromunder,
drawingitunperturbedarounditself?
Alongthefinetansandyshelf
isthelandtuggingattheseafromunder?
TheshadowofNewfoundlandliesflatandstill.
Labrador’syellow,wherethemoonyEskimo
hasoiledit.Wecanstroketheselovelybays,
underaglassasiftheywereexpectedtoblossom,
orasiftoprovideacleancageforinvisiblefish.
Thenamesofseashoretownsrunouttosea,
thenamesofcitiescrosstheneighboringmountains
—theprinterhereexperiencingthesameexcitement
aswhenemotiontoofarexceedsitscause.
Thesepeninsulastakethewaterbetweenthumbandfinger
likewomenfeelingforthesmoothnessofyard-goods.
Mappedwatersaremorequietthanthelandis,
lendingthelandtheirwaves’ownconformation:
andNorway’sharerunssouthinagitation,
profilesinvestigatethesea,wherelandis.
Aretheyassigned,orcanthecountriespicktheircolors?
—Whatsuitsthecharacterorthenativewatersbest.
Topographydisplaysnofavorites;North’sasnearasWest.
Moredelicatethanthehistorians’arethemap-makers’colors.
TheImaginaryIceberg
We’dratherhavetheicebergthantheship,
althoughitmeanttheendoftravel.
Althoughitstoodstock-stilllikecloudyrock
andalltheseaweremovingmarble.
We’dratherhavetheicebergthantheship;
we’dratherownthisbreathingplainofsnow
thoughtheship’ssailswerelaiduponthesea
asthesnowliesundissolveduponthewater.
Osolemn,floatingfield,
areyouawareanicebergtakesrepose
withyou,andwhenitwakesmaypastureonyoursnows?
Thisisasceneasailor’dgivehiseyesfor.
Theship’signored.Theicebergrises
andsinksagain;itsglassypinnacles
correctellipticsinthesky.
Thisisascenewherehewhotreadstheboards
isartlesslyrhetorical.Thecurtain
islightenoughtoriseonfinestropes
thatairytwistsofsnowprovide.
Thewitsofthesewhitepeaks
sparwiththesun.Itsweighttheicebergdares
uponashiftingstageandstandsandstares.
Thisicebergcutsitsfacetsfromwithin.
Likejewelryfromagrave
itsavesitselfperpetuallyandadorns
onlyitself,perhapsthesnows
whichsosurpriseuslyingonthesea.
Good-bye,wesay,good-bye,theshipsteersoff
andcloudsruninawarmersky.
Icebergsbehoovethesoul
(bothbeingself-madefromelementsleastvisible)
toseethemso:fleshed,fair,erectedindivisible.
Casabianca
Love’stheboystoodontheburningdeck
tryingtorecite“Theboystoodon
theburningdeck.”Love’stheson
stoodstammeringelocution
whilethepoorshipinflameswentdown.
Love’stheobstinateboy,theship,
eventheswimmingsailors,who
wouldlikeaschoolroomplatform,too,
oranexcusetostay
ondeck.Andlove’stheburningboy.
TheColdertheAir
Wemustadmireherperfectaim,
thishuntressofthewinterair
whoselevelweaponneedsnosight,
ifitwerenotthateverywhere
hergameissure,hershotisright.
Theleastofuscoulddothesame.
Thechalkybirdsorboatsstandstill,
reducingherconditionsofch
ance;
air’sgallerymarksidentically
thenarrowgalleryofherglance.
Thetarget-centerinhereye
isequallyheraimandwill.
Time’sinherpocket,tickingloud
ononestalledsecond.She’llconsult
nottimenorcircumstance.Shecalls
onatmosphereforherresult.
(Itisthisclockthatlaterfalls
inwheelsandchimesofleafandcloud.)
WadingatWellfleet
InoneoftheAssyrianwars
achariotfirstsawthelight
thatboresharpbladesarounditswheels.
ThatchariotfromAssyria
wentrollingdownmechanically
totakethewarriorsbytheheels.
Athousandwarriorsinthesea
couldnotconsidersuchawar
asthattheseaitselfcontrives
buthasn’tputinactionyet.
Thismorning’sglitteringsreveal
theseais“allacaseofknives.”
Lyingsoclose,theycatchthesun,
thespokesdirectedattheshin.
Thechariotfrontisblueandgreat.
Thewarrestswhollywiththewaves:
theytryrevolving,butthewheels
giveway;theywillnotbeartheweight.
ChemindeFer
Aloneontherailroadtrack
Iwalkedwithpoundingheart.
Thetiesweretooclosetogether
ormaybetoofarapart.
Thescenerywasimpoverished:
scrub-pineandoak;beyond
itsmingledgray-greenfoliage
Isawthelittlepond
wherethedirtyhermitlives,
lielikeanoldtear
holdingontoitsinjuries
lucidlyyearafteryear.
Thehermitshotoffhisshot-gun
andthetreebyhiscabinshook.
Overthepondwentaripple.
Thepethenwentchook-chook.
“Loveshouldbeputintoaction!”
screamedtheoldhermit.
Acrossthepondanecho
triedandtriedtoconfirmit.
TheGentlemanofShalott
Whicheye’shiseye?
Whichlimblies
nextthemirror?
Forneitherisclearer
noradifferentcolor
thantheother,
normeetsastranger
inthisarrangement
oflegandlegand
armandsoon.
Tohismind
it’stheindication