Insomnia

The moon, a celestial object traditionally ascribed feminine qualities in myth or literature, acts as the object of desire for the speaker. The speaker admires the moon’s light, which through reflection creates an entirely new world. This moon is also the ultimate insomniac. “She” is thus an inspiration for the speaker’s own insomnia, which the speaker seems to embrace as a sort of portal to a new world instead of fighting as an illness.

The speaker also ascribes human features to the moon, showing it as independent and strong. The moon does what the speaker cannot: She fights through adversity and adapts to loss. The moon can move past her losses, as she takes loss and care and throws them away without a second thought.

The speaker presents an almost erotic description of the moon. She sees “her” voyeuristically through a reflection in a mirror; the moon passes over the night sky naked and illuminated. The moon also creates new worlds through the strength of her own image, leading insomniacs who look up at her longingly to think about their deepest desires. Bishop intentionally makes the moon feminine early in the poem, using the pronoun “herself” (Line 3). Considering Bishop’s lesbian identity, the eroticism here makes sense.