Elizabeth Bishop Form Double Sonnet 2 Stanzas of 14 Lines each It does not conform to a regular rhyming scheme What does this say about Bishops attitude or this particular poem The last two lines do not end in a rhyming couplet as is usually the case with a sonnet what is the purpose ID: 401663
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Slide1
The Prodigal
Elizabeth BishopSlide2
Form
Double Sonnet (2 Stanzas of 14 Lines each)
It does not conform to a regular rhyming scheme. What does this say about Bishop’s attitude or this particular poem?
The last two lines do not end in a rhyming couplet as is usually the case with a sonnet – what is the purpose of this?Slide3
Consider this…
Bishop dramatizes the time before the prodigal returns home rather than the homecoming itself.
Why do you think she does this?Slide4
The brown enormous
odor
he lived by
was too close, with its breathing and thick hair,
for him to judge
.
The floor was rotten; the sty
was plastered halfway up with glass-smooth dung.
Light-lashed, self-righteous, above moving snouts,
the pigs' eyes followed him, a cheerful stare--
even to the sow that always ate her young--
till, sickening, he leaned to scratch her head.
But sometimes mornings after drinking bouts
(he hid the pints behind the two-by-fours),
the sunrise glazed the barnyard mud with red
the burning puddles seemed to reassure.
And then he thought he almost might endure
his exile yet another year or more.Slide5
The brown enormous
odor
he lived by
was too close, with its breathing and thick hair,
for him to judge
.
The floor was rotten; the sty
was plastered halfway up with glass-smooth dung.
Light-lashed, self-righteous, above moving snouts,
the pigs' eyes followed him, a cheerful stare--
even to the sow that always ate her young--
till, sickening, he leaned to scratch her head.
But sometimes mornings after drinking bouts
(he hid the pints behind the two-by-fours),
the sunrise glazed the barnyard mud with red
the burning puddles seemed to reassure.
And then he thought he almost might endure
his exile yet another year or more.Slide6
But evenings the first star came to warn.
The farmer whom he worked for came at dark
to shut the cows and horses in the barn
beneath their overhanging clouds of hay,
with pitchforks, faint forked
lightnings
, catching light,
safe and companionable as in the Ark.
The pigs stuck out their little feet and snored.
The lantern--like the sun, going away--
laid on the mud a pacing aureole.
Carrying a bucket along a slimy board,
he felt the bats' uncertain staggering flight,
his shuddering insights, beyond his control,
touching him. But it took him a long time
finally to make up his mind to go home.Slide7
But evenings the first star came to warn.
The farmer whom he worked for came at dark
to shut the cows and horses in the barn
beneath their overhanging clouds of hay,
with pitchforks, faint forked
lightnings
, catching light,
safe and companionable as in the Ark.
The pigs stuck out their little feet and snored.
The lantern--like the sun, going away--
laid on the mud a pacing aureole.
Carrying a bucket along a slimy board,
he felt the bats' uncertain staggering flight,
his shuddering insights, beyond his control,
touching him. But it took him a long time
finally to make up his mind to go home.Slide8
Imagery
Class Task
:
‘Bishop
is a poet of rich and detailed
description’
Pick
two images that this poem creates in your mind and discuss how Bishop conveys these
images to good effect.Slide9
“brown enormous odor
”
What does this suggest?
What is wrong with this phrase?
Bishop uses incorrect syntax in the first line. What is the purpose of this? Is there a purpose?
Synaesthesia
–Slide10
Metaphor
The barn’s hayloft is compared to ‘clouds’Slide11
‘home’….
What is the significance of isolating the last word of the poem?Slide12
Themes
Man & Nature:
The connection between the prodigal and the ‘bats uncertain staggering flight’
Addiction:
An honest and moving portrayal of an addict
Exile
–
Homelessness. The journey, decision to return home is not an easy one to make
Moments of
awareness:
‘bats uncertain staggering flight’