In this essay I will be comparing Popular Geography by Miriam Waddington to The Bight by Elizabeth Bishop. Waddington and Bishop both describe physical environments, employing a range of poetic techniques to express deeper issues regarding their emotions.

“Some poets write as much about mental or emotional landscapes, as they do of the physical ones.” What do you think?

In this essay I will be comparing Popular Geography by Miriam Waddington to The Bight by Elizabeth Bishop. Waddington and Bishop both describe physical environments, employing a range of poetic techniques to express deeper issues regarding their emotions. Popular Geography is in narrative form; the narrative voice asserts their opinions about each city as if they were indisputable ‘Miami is one big yellow jumpsuit.’ This description may at first appear to be commenting on how glamorous Miami, however, I sense that there are deeper feelings about Miami, and the other cities described. The narrative may be Waddington expressing her own feelings about each city; when Manitoba is described there appears to be some bias ‘Manitoba oh Manitoba, you are still a beautiful green grain elevator.’ The opinion expressed about Manitoba does not have the conventional impartial tone of a third person narrative voice, or even one that may reflect the views of the poet..The Bight is analogous to Popular Geography; the narrative form and views expressed also appear to reflect the personal views of the poet. This poem is likely to be Bishop’s description and not the narrative, however, it is not obvious. Brent C. Miller describes The Bight as a wonderful example of a Bishop speaker viewing a scene, telling ‘what really happened’ while at the same time demonstrating her individuality, even personality. Miller’s view is possible however I feel it is more likely to be Bishop describing The Bight. In the seventh line of the poem, the poet writes ‘one can smell it turning to gas’, this description shows the ambiguity of the poem. ‘One’ in this case can be used to describe herself or a separate entity.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Both of these poems have similar structure, one main body of text with no clear stanza separations. This structure may represent a consistent personal view throughout these poems. In Popular Geography, Waddington may feel that there are many cities changing to become commercial or industrial, per contra, ‘Manitoba oh Manitoba’ has remained pure ‘growing out of the black summer earth.’ The Bight’s lack of stanzas may be to reflect the unvaried refection that Bishop is having on her life. Bishop describes ‘little white boats’ that are ‘piled up against each other...not yet salvaged.’ This could be a reference to the small white pages of drafts that Bishop has kept, waiting to see if she can find some use for them. The reference to this poem being written ‘on (her) birthday’ may be referring to the common occurrence at this time - taking stock of your life, thinking about what you’ve done in the past and plan to do in the future. Bishop appears not to be content with her achievements in life. She presents birds in anti-romantic similes, attacking the water ‘like pickaxes, rarely coming up with anything to show for it.’ This could be representative of Bishop’s continual efforts to write poems with little recognition.

Waddington and Bishop both hint at being feeling useless in their poems. In Popular Geography the poet has no power to change cities, her only action against this modernising is this tribute to Manitoba. Waddington’s feelings are reflected in the structure she uses; the short lines of the poem allow the poem to be read quickly, this effect make it sound like a rush of emotion; Waddington’s prejudice in favour of Manitoba has completely influenced her poem ‘Chicago is a huge hot gun sending smoke into the sky for 1000 miles to Winnepeg’, no other points of view have been considered. In contrast, the lines of The Bight are longer, showing deeper signs of reflection. Bishop appears to have spent time evaluating her life; she uses a series of metaphors and similes to describe herself and her position in life.

To conclude, Popular Geography has been written about modern cities, however, Waddington's feeling against modern cities may stem from views she has about purity. Manitoba is the only city she admires and her admiration comes from its purity. Bishop has written about her life by describing The Bight. Bishop seems to be stoical; although the 'boats are dry' and useless, and the harbour is becoming unattractive and full 'of marl' life on The Bight still continues, like her life.

A01: Articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent accurate written expression.

A02: Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts.

A03: Explore connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers.