The XX century is one of those centuries, which was filled with various events: cultural, political and social ones. It was a time full of emotions: from the tears to the laughter. It was a time of rebel, a time of a freedom to be born again. It was a time of changes. Such character of the century has put its influence on the culture, especially art: the paintings, the photographs, the poetry, etc. Exactly the poetry, as an irreplaceable element of the world’s culture, is showing the emotional side of XX century’s people. It is a poetry, written in simple words, with clear sentences, which makes it to be even more unique, intimate and personal. This poetry teaches us to read between the lines, seeking a hidden context, a special meaning. In terms of the poetry, the XX century’s world knows a number of talented poets, who were denudating their feelings towards in the most intimate way. In this case, the paper is going be mostly concentrated on the works of such well-known poet, as Elizabeth Bishop, comparing it with works of Thomas Stearns Eliot. For this matter, two poems have been chosen: the ‘Love Lies Sleeping’, written by E. Bishop and the ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, written by T. S. Eliot.
Before getting deeper into the topic, it is important to state, that, as for the first sight, the poetry, as a whole unite, of these both poets is similar at various points, in terms of the intimacy, emotions and the simplicity of passing the main idea of what is going to be shared
with the reader. This is a key aspect, however, the contexts of their poems may differ one from another. Consequently, each and every reader will find something personal in the works of both poets.
Focusing our attention on the works of Elizabeth Bishop, it is worth noticing that she is tightly connected with the nature. She is tightly connected with everything, which is surrounding her. Such approach of living has found its reflection in the way Elizabeth was creating her poetry. Such a great example of it surely is the poem, named ‘Love Lies Sleeping’. In this poem, Elizabeth is describing few stages of being in love, through the image of the city. She is embodying all feelings that a person experiences, while being in love. All the changes that occur in his or hers life during that time just as well as the weather changes – the mood and the way we perceive this world around us is changing as well:
“The sparrows hurriedly begin their play.
Then, in the West, "Boom!" and a cloud of smoke.
"Boom!" and the exploding ball
of blossom blooms again.” (Elizabeth Bishop)
However, it is also important to state that poetry has two ways of perceiving the sense of it. The first one opens us new way of reading that is available while reading the poetry in isolation. The second one opens a new manner of reading one poet with another, which is not available while reading the poetry in isolation. Concerning the ‘Love Lies Sleeping’, we are able to read it in isolation, as well as with the other poet, such as Thomas Stearns Eliot, for example. While reading the poem separately from others, we may notice an extremely emotional state of the person, which is being a subject of the poem. On the other hand, while
reading it with ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ – we may more focus our attention on the stylistic and philosophical similarities, such as the way both authors are delivering their ideas to the reader, etc. (Eliot, T. S.) For example, while Elizabeth is giving the description of a person’s inner emotional state, mentioned above, Thomas Stearns Eliot writes:
‘The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains’ (Eliot, T. S.)
Here, in this case, this description tells us about the weather, but not the psychological and emotional state of the person, who is in love. This formal element is the key one. It makes a difference between these two poems, in terms of the way poets are describing love.
Also, it brings us to the different ways of interpretation through two types of perceiving the poem, mentioned above: when the poem is read in isolation and when it is unavailable to do. When we read consider those poems as two different separate works – we clearly see Elizabeth’s concentration on the emotional side and the figurative sense of what she was trying to say. In other words, after the poem’s reading, the reader will surely claim that it was written by a woman, concerning its extremely emotional filling, figurative comparisons – everything, which defines women in their communicational aspect. In Thomas’s poem we see more literal expression of what the poet wanted to state, more restrained. (Eliot, T. S.) Such difference is another specific key element of the way we may interpret these poems.
However, if we will look at these works, not isolating one from another, we may notice that they are adding each other, in terms of the way feelings have been expressed and so on. As it was mentioned above, Elizabeth is using more figurative language, while creating the poem. What does it give to the reader? It gives a reader a deeper understanding of what is happening to the person in his or hers mind, when the one is in love. She was talking about love, using strong words, to emphasize the meaning of what she was going to tell about:
‘queer cupids of all persons getting up,
whose evening meal they will prepare all day,
you will dine well
on his heart, on his, and his’ (Elizabeth Bishop)
Such differences between Eliot’s and Bishop’s poetry are leading to the deeper understanding of their inner worlds, of who those poets were, how did they feel, when they were in love, how were they opening their hearts to others. It also reveals some features of their behavior. Elizabeth’s poem represents her connection with the nature, her emotional soul, even when describing love:
‘Earliest morning, switching all the tracks
that cross the sky from cinder star to star,
coupling the ends of streets
Eliot’s poem seems to be more dreary, more melancholic than Elizabeth’s. If the
‘Love Lies Sleeping’ represents an emotional state of a person; ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ represents an inner fight, the dialogue of the soul. While creating the poem, Eliot has used the rhetorical questions, to what later, after coming to various conclusions, he finds his answers:
‘And indeed there will be time
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair’ (Eliot, T. S.)
Elizabeth, in order to represent personal feelings, uses simple words, embodies a person through the image of a city, comparing the change of day and night to the person’s change of mood. In this case, Elizabeth’s poem is stronger than Eliot’s, in terms of the feeling’s awakening, as it makes the reader think, use one’s imagination, find the reflection of the personal experience of such kind in this poem. It speaks to the reader.
As a conclusion, it is important to mention that Elizabeth Bishop’s poem can be read in both ways: as a separate work and with other writers’ works. In both ways the reader will find two different meanings, two different contexts that reflect onto the reader personally. These two poems are different in terms of the way the emotions were expressed: Elizabeth used more figurative method, in order to show a person behind the image of the city; Thomas used more literal method to express what he wanted to say through the dialogue of a soul, when the main character was giving him challenging questions. Generally speaking, a poem itself can’t be perceived only in isolated way or in the row with other works. In different cases the meaning may be totally different and we all, as readers, have to understand this.
Works cited:
Eliot, T. S. "Poetry Magazine." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/173476>.
Elizabeth Bishop -69 Poems-. PoemHunter.com, 2012. PoemHunter. PoemHunter.com. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/elizabeth_bishop_2012_7.pdf>.
