(8 February 1911 – 6 October 1979 / Worcester, Massachusetts)

poet Elizabeth Bishop
#44 on top 500 poets

Quotations

  • ''What childishness is it that while there's breath of life
    in our bodies, we are determined to rush
    to see the sun the other way around?''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. "Questions of Travel." Bishop, an avid traveler, spent the last 16 years of her life in Brazil.
    71 person liked.
    		35 person did not like.
  • ''His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied,

    looking for something, something, something.
    Poor bird, he is obsessed!''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Sandpiper (l. 16-18). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    59 person liked.
    		31 person did not like.
  • ''The millions of grains are black, white, tan, and gray,
    and mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst.''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Sandpiper (l. 19-20). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    37 person liked.
    		33 person did not like.
  • ''The roaring alongside he takes for granted,
    and that every so often the world is bound to shake.
    He runs, he runs to the south, finical, awkward,
    in a state of controlled panic, a student of Blake.''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Sandpiper (l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    40 person liked.
    		28 person did not like.
  • ''Heaven is not like flying or swimming,
    but has something to do with blackness and a strong glare''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Seascape (l. 20-21). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    16 person liked.
    		12 person did not like.
  • ''this cartoon by Raphael for a tapestry for a Pope:''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Seascape (l. 12). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    10 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • ''With crayons the child draws a rigid house
    and a winding pathway. Then the child
    puts in a man with buttons like tears''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Sestina (l. 27-29). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    14 person liked.
    		8 person did not like.
  • ''I know what I know, says the almanac.''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Sestina (l. 26). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    11 person liked.
    		10 person did not like.
  • ''Time to plant tears, says the almanac.
    The grandmother sings to the marvellous stove
    and the child draws another inscrutable house.''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. Sestina (l. 37-39). . . The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 [Elizabeth Bishop]. (1983) Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
    11 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • ''The armored cars of dreams, contrived to let us do so many a dangerous thing.''
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), U.S. poet. "Sleeping Standing Up," st. 2, Poems: North and South a Cold Spring (1955).
    9 person liked.
    		8 person did not like.

Read more quotations »

Argument

Days that cannot bring you near
or will not,
Distance trying to appear
something more obstinate,
argue argue argue with me
endlessly
neither proving you less wanted nor less dear.

Distance: Remember all that land

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