Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

Casabianca -- Elizabeth Bishop

Guest poem submitted by Ben Morrison,
whose birthday it is today. Happy Birthday, Ben!
(Poem #999) Casabianca
 Love's the boy stood on the burning deck
 trying to recite "The boy stood on
 the burning deck". Love's the son
        stood stammering elocution
        while the poor ship in flames went down.

 Love's the obstinate boy, the ship,
 even the swimming sailors, who
 would like a schoolroom platform, too
        or an excuse to stay
        on deck. And love's the burning boy.
-- Elizabeth Bishop
This Bishop poem isn't one that typically makes it in the anthologies, but
it is perhaps my favorite, and since it is love poetry week, it's entirely
fitting.

It's so simple: four sentences all with the same noun/verb
contraction--"love's".  The image of "burning" love is a cliché, but the
build from the poor boy trying to talk to the ship and all the other sailors
and then back to the burning boy is what makes this poem work. The lens
widens from the poor boy to everything else and then, finally, back to the
boy. This is the enviable boy who gets to stay on deck and burn.

It's not pretty. It's sacrificial. It's about being powerless, not being
able to say ("trying to recite") what you are and where you are. It's not
pastoral. If you actually imagine someone burning, it's downright
horrifying, but I guess that's the point. Even when reading it, the reader
envies the boy and wishes that he/she too was on the deck and burning.

Ben.

[Minstrels Links]

Elizabeth Bishop:
Poem #639, One Art
Poem #734, In the Waiting Room

Love poetry, the week so far:
Poem #997, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love -- Christopher Marlowe
Poem #998, A Blade of Grass -- Brian Patten
Poem #999, Casabianca -- Elizabeth Bishop

25 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Mansell Erin said...

I'm sorry but this poem makes little sense to me at all. The boat is the
Casabianca and love is a/the boy on the burning deck of the boat? After
that it becomes even more opaque. Love is a son reciting badly that the
ship is burning while the ship is burning? Really? And the whole scene is
love? Replace love with evil and the poem makes more sense which is finally
enlightening me to the meaning of this poem that the boy with his love set
the ship on fire...Maybe? Well, in any case I'm glad she isn't in many
anthologies if this is the nonsense she writes. I'll leave you with this
poem. As I've mentioned before please do not publish my email address.

Cause and Effect
the best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them
-Bukowski

Bill O'Brien said...

Elizabeth Bishop's poem Casabianca is burnt into bricks in the Davis
square t station in Somerville, MA. Commuters unknowingly walk over the
hidden words. A
Mexican immigrant mop washed the bricks with dirty water. The words
filled with water and became visible.

lpaganin said...

This poem is indeed, as a reader above opines, one of Bishop's most opaque.
It's also atypical among her work: It appears in her debut book along with a
minority of similarly abstruse poems. The rest of the poems in that
book--and the overwhelming majority of work in the later books--exhibit the
piercingly clear, minutely detailed descriptions of objects and trains of
thought that would increasingly characterize her verse. She observed every
cogent detail and exactingly described it, increasingly avoiding subjective,
expressionistic forays as her writing developed. (A phrase often used in
commentary on the poet is "Bishop's eye.") Insight and meaning arrive subtly
out of accumulated details--Bishop never thrusts her meaning in your face.
That she could fit these crystalline observations into complex, challenging
forms of poetry--some forms classical (i.e., sestinas), some forms her own
inventions--while maintaining the voice of an everyday speaker, is a
remarkable feat. She deserves her place as (according to many critics) one
of the five most important American poets of the latter half of the 20th
century. [As for Bukowski: I like his intense compression and very short
lines; and his direct, accessible descriptions of moments of despair. But
Bishop found those things as her poetry progressed (if not as prolifically
as Bukowski's), and she found them while playing with an expansive diversity
of forms both simple and complex. Bukowski developed a few types, or forms,
and stuck with them, over and over.] ...I'll try to leave a Bishop
poem--"Song for the Rainy Season"--on this site (if that's possible, and if
it's not already on the site). It's a great poem, the effects of which sneak
up on you in the course of a single reading and after more readings. Also,
the loose rhyme scheme--a device she would develop more and more--creeps
into your awareness as the poem goes on, and during later readings. A good
poem to read out loud. One of my favorites.

music said...

This is an obvious comment--but Bishop's poem didn't make logical sense to me until I became aware of Hemans' Casabianca, which you can find on this site as well. Read the comments for Hemans' poem and you'll discover it is a poem grade-school children once learned by heart--hence Bishop's paradox of the boy reciting a poem about his own death.

In the original poem, the boy is waiting to hear from his father before he leaves the ship, not realizing his father is dead below deck. Bishop's poem turns the boy's death into a choice, and for me, this choice is what Bishop equates with "love" throughout the poem.

Joseph Shuffield

eric swain said...

I believe 'the boy' is a metaphor throughout for 'love.' His experiences are all feelings that surround love. Whether that be good or bad!

'Obstinate' meaning that love is stubborn; it will not move or go away even if it may be almost forced to. The sailors are envious of this and want 'an excuse' to remain or even experience being on deck, specifically, to be feel or atleast be near Love, i.e. 'the boy.'

At first the sailors didn't not even realise the boy (i.e. Love) was there until he was gone, an additional experience of those who have experienced this feeling of being in love!!!!!

A COMPLEX POEM BUT A CLEVER ONE!

amy xx

Robert Frump said...

First saw this on the subway in New York City and could not get its rhythyms
and images out of my head. I think it less than opaque in one sense. The
boy on the burning deck was a popular 19th century poem, as I recall, where
the poor kid is told to stay on the deck by his father who perishes and the
boy even though faced by death by fire does not dive into the water. Out of
love, duty, honor, he follows his father's literal orders though it means
certain death. Here, we see the boy reciting the old poem, aware of the
plight, concious of what will happen to him and even then his love for his
father keeps him there...it becomes a more existential, conscious act...or
so I think.

Beyond that though...of course...yes, it is opaque and beautifully so....

Bob Frump

Ideas de negocios said...

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, but I am firmly convinced of this and love to learn more about the subject. If possible, acquire knowledge, would you update your blog with more information? It is very helpful to me

lowongan kerja said...

I get a lot of referrals from this site.
I also wrote in a blog: lowongan kerja 2013, lowongan kerja terbaru and info lowongan kerja.

Anonymous said...

Also, it could only require a little over three years to complete.
X-rays and an MRI are recommended to be sure there's nothing more significant going on, like a herniated vertebral disc, or a fractured vertebra. Although a lot of massage clients to prefer to be quiet during the massage and just enjoy the relaxing massage in silence, there are also those that like to strike a conversation with the masseuse, which gives you the opportunity to learn more about your clients and build a good professional relationship with them.
Also visit my homepage :: depression suicidal thoughts pregnancy

Anonymous said...



Here is my blog: tantra

Anonymous said...

It's difficult to find experienced people for this subject, but you sound like you know what you're talking about!
Thanks

my website ... the tao of badass

Anonymous said...

Remarkable! Its genuinely awesome article, I have got
much clear idea on the topic of from this article.

Review my website: tao josh pellicer

Anonymous said...

Nice to share my love is wonderful to tell you that a healthy green gives you the best Organic vitamins, herbal remedies and organic supplements. They use all natural ingredients to create organic products. jlmmotorsports.com |

kebasportsonline.com |

motorsportsimulation.com |

puertomarquessportsclub.com |

sportcx.com |

sportsnm.com |

swisports.com |

grandhavencomputers.com |

rakitancomputer.com |

thecomputerexpress.com |

knowledgebrokerstechnology.com |

colombiasmtravel.com |

fundisa-travel.com |

hondurastravelradio.com |

katchistravel.com |

Anonymous said...

Keep sharing such ideas in the future as well. This was actually what I was looking for, and I am glad to came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us.www.siamfishingtours.co.uk |

www.dogsoncanvas.co.uk |

www.stable-barrow.co.uk |

www.gigidagostino.co.uk |

www.voidaudio.co.uk |

www.sharinghealth.co.uk |

www.axispropertyinvestment.co.uk |

www.lifeinsport.co.uk |

www.buckbyblinds.co.uk |

blognya fariz said...

Obat Benjolan Kutil pada Kelamin Pria Tanpa Operasi Virus HPV tidak bisa ditularkan melalui pelukan, ciuman, atau media perantara seperti alat makan, handuk, atau kertas toilet. Virus ini hanya bisa ditularkan melalui kontak antara kulit dengan kulit ketika berhubungan intim, termasuk seks oral dan berbagi sex toys atau peralatan untuk merangsang pasangan. http://juragan-obat-herbal.blogspot.com/2016/01/obat-benjolan-kutil-pada-kelamin-pria.html , Cari Obat Kutil di Sekitar Kemaluan Pria Apakah anda sedang mencari obat untuk menghilangkan kutil kelamin secara ampuh? Karena jika diagnosis sudah menyatakan bahwa anda menderita penyakit ini maka harus melakukan pengobatan dengan segera. http://solusiherbal432.blogspot.com/2016/01/cari-obat-kutil-di-sekitar-kemaluan-pria.html
Obat Bintil Kutil Jengger Ayam pada Kelamin Pria Sedangkan jika kutil kelamin diduga tumbuh di dalam vagina, maka dokter akan menggunakan alat yang disebut spekulum untuk melihat dinding vagina dan leher rahim. http://herbal234.blog.planetbiru.com/?id=8872 , Kumpulan Obat Bintil Kutil di Kemaluan Pria Pemahaman yang harus kita ketahui adalah bahwa penyakit ini disebabkan oleh salah satu virus menular seksual yang bernama Human Papilloma Virus. Virus ini biasanya menginfeksi lapisan kulit kelamin bagian atas. http://herbal234.sosblogs.com/The-first-blog-b1/Kumpulan-Obat-Bintil-Kutil-di-Kemaluan-Pria-b1-p452.htm
Cara Cepat Menghilangkan Penyakit Kutil Pada Kemaluan Pria Sebagai langkah utama, kutil kelamin dapat kita cegah melalui suntikan vaksin. Vaksin yang tersedia saat ini sudah dapat menangkal jenis virus HPV yang paling sering menyebabkan kutil kelamin. Vaksin ini juga dapat menangkal sebagian besar jenis virus HPV yang menjadi penyebab kanker serviks. http://herbal234.pbworks.com/w/page/104254537/Cara%20Cepat%20Menghilangkan%20Penyakit%20Kutil%20Pada%20Kemaluan%20Pria , Pengobatan Kutil di Kemaluan Pria Tanpa Operasi Pengobatan juga mungkin harus dilakukan secara berulang kali dan tidak cukup hanya dengan krim saja jika ukuran kutil besar atau berjumlah banyak http://herbal234.tumblr.com/post/137866342063/pengobatan-kutil-di-kemaluan-pria-tanpa-operasi

bocahganteng said...

good
Beli Obat Herbal Kanker Payudara
Beli Obat Herbal Kanker Payudara Harga Murah
Beli Obat Herbal Kanker Payudara Yang Manjur
Beli Obat Herbal Kanker Payudara Stadium 2
Beli Obat Herbal Atasi Kanker Payudara
Artikel Obat Herbal Kanker Payudara
Artikel Obat Herbal Untuk Penyakit Kanker Payudara
Artikel Obat Herbal Kanker Payudara Jinak
Artikel Obat Herbal Kanker Payudara Parah
Artikel Obat Herbal Denature Buat Kanker Payudara
Harga Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Harga Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal Merk De Nature
Harga Obat Benjolan Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Harga Obat Infeksi Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Harga Obat Bintil Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Pusat Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Pusat Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature Asli
Pusat Obat Kutil Kelamin Kondiloma Herbal De Nature
Pusat Obat Kutil Kelamin Lelaki Herbal De Nature
Pusat Obat Kutil Kelamin Jengger Ayam Herbal De Nature
Resep Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Resep Obat Kutil Kelamin Wanita Herbal De Nature
Resep Pengobatan Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Resep Obat Ampuh Atasi Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Cari Resep Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Kumpulan Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Kumpulan Obat Penyakit Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Kumpulan Obat Kutil Kelamin Pria Herbal De Nature
Kumpulan Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature Mujarab
Kumpulan Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature Asli
Cari Obat Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Cari Obat Perontok Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Cari Obat Salep Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Cari Obat Bintil Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature
Cari Obat Tuntaskan Kutil Kelamin Herbal De Nature

Post a Comment