Sestina

“The Armadillo” by Elizabeth Bishop (1957)

“The Armadillo,” along with “Sestina,” is Bishop’s most recognized and most anthologized poem. It uses vivid recreation of animals terrified by the elaborate fireworks celebrating a Brazilian holiday to critique humanity’s terrifying nearness to apocalyptic destruction posed by nuclear armaments. Like “Sestina,” the poem features Bishop’s chiseled lines and her refusal to indulge in messy emotions, letting the vivid detailing convey the darkest emotions.

“Skunk Hour” by Robert Lowell (1959)

Because of Lowell’s friendship with Bishop, Lowell’s poem can be used to define how completely Bishop refused to indulge in the emotional excess typical of Confessional poets such as Lowell. Here, Lowell records his own experience in first person of a hellish insomniac night when, as he watches skunks poke around a garbage can, he ponders his emotional distress, loneliness, fragile mental state, and suicidal ideation.

“The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing” by Marianne Moore (1943)

The literary friendship between Moore and Bishop became, over more than three decades, a mentor/protégé relationship. This exquisite Moore poem not only thematically suggests Bishop’s faith in the intellectual apprehension of difficult emotions but also reveals the two poets’ fascination with the carefully crafted poetic line.