The Mountain

“The Mountain” was published by Elizabeth Bishop in Poetry Magazine in 1952. It is a persona poem, written from the point of view of a mountain who continuously says, “I do not know my age” (Lines 4, 12, 20, 28) and “Tell me how old I am” (Lines 8, 16, 24, 32, 36). Elizabeth Bishop’s poems are known for their imagery and philosophical questions that hold universal appeal. At a time when many of Bishop’s friends wrote in the confessional style, making use of autobiographical information as subject matter, Bishop distinguished herself by writing poems that frequently hid her own biographical information. “The Mountain” is one example of her use of persona. Bishop is also known for using traditional forms, such as the villanelle, the ballad, and the sestina. “The Mountain” is not technically a formal poem but makes use of some of the conventions of the villanelle, specifically the repeated phrases, which explore the mountain’s isolation and anxiety around aging.

Poet Biography

Bishop was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1911. Her father died when she was eight months old, and when she was five years old, her mother was committed to a psychiatric hospital for those with mental health conditions. Elizabeth was raised by her maternal grandparents in Nova Scotia until her teen years when her paternal grandparents, worried about Elizabeth’s education, insisted she live with them; however, Bishop was unhappy in Massachusetts and developed health problems. Her paternal grandparents sent Bishop to live with her maternal aunt, who also lived in Massachusetts.

Elizabeth’s aunt introduced her to poetry. She began writing and publishing poems of her own while studying at Vassar College. However, the more traditional literary journals refused to publish her work because it was too modern. She was published instead by Houghton Mifflin and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Over her lifetime, Bishop maintained several notable friendships with other renowned poets, including Marianne Moore and Robert Lowell. From Moore, Bishop was encouraged to pay attention to imagery and detail in her writing. Though she and Lowell exchanged many letters about poetry and encouraged one another’s work, Bishop was a very different kind of poet from Lowell. Lowell is considered the father of the confessional movement, a type of poetry in which poets reveal personal and sometimes taboo information, while Bishop preferred to write poems that minimize her personal history.

Bishop inherited money from her father that allowed her to travel and write for some time without needing to work. In 1951, she visited Santos, Brazil, expecting to stay a brief time, but instead fell in love with Lota de Macedo Soares, an architect and member of a well-known family. The two lived together for many years, and Bishop made use of the landscape of Brazil in a number of her prominent poems.

Eventually, Soares died by suicide in 1967. After that Bishop spent more time in the United States, where she died at the age of 68 in 1979.

Poem Text

Bishop, Elizabeth. “The Mountain.” 1952. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“The Mountain” is a persona poem in which a mountain asks about its age. It begins “[a]t evening,” when the mountain senses something behind it. Startled, the mountain “halt[s] and burn[s],” and then realizes, “I do not know my age” (Line 4).

In the second stanza, the mountain says, “In the morning it is different” (Line 5). The mountain tries to read a book, but it is “too close to read in comfort” (Line 7). The mountain asks the reader to “[t]ell me how old I am” (Line 8). The mountain continues to talk about morning, saying:

And then the valleys stuff

impenetrable mists

like cotton in my ears (Lines 9-11).

Then, the mountain repeats the line “I do not know my age” (Line 12).

In the fourth stanza, the mountain reflects, or apologizes, saying, “I do not mean to complain” (Line 13). The mountain reference an ambiguous “they” who “say it is [the mountain’s] fault” (Line 14), then claims, “Nobody tells me anything” (Line 15). After that, the mountain says again, “Tell me how old I am” (Line 16).

The mountain notes “[t]he deepest demarcations / can slowly spread and fade” (Lines 17-18) comparing its own markings to “any blurred tattoo” (Line 19). The mountain suggests its markings are fading, and that may contribute to it saying, “I do not know my age” (Line 20).

Next, the mountain notes that “[s]hadows fall down; lights climb” (Line 21). Then the mountain addresses “children” who it says, “never stay long enough” (Line 23). The mountain repeats, “Tell me old I am” (Line 24).

The mountain switches from discussing children to discussing “[s]tone wings.” It says these wings have “sifted here / with feather hardening feather” (Lines 25-26), but the mountain doesn’t know where the claws are. They are “lost somewhere.” This stanza ends with “I do not know my age” (Line 28).

In the second to last stanza, the mountain says, “I am growing deaf” (Line 29). It describes changes and losses. The sound of birds dwindles. It cannot wipe up the waterfalls. In this stanza, the mountain asks twice for someone to tell it its age. First, it says, “What is my age?” (Line 31), and then again, “Tell me how old I am” (Line 32).

In the last stanza, the mountain expresses anger. It says, “Let the moon go hang, / the stars go fly their kites” (Lines 33-34). It says “I want to know my age” (Line 35) and repeats again, “Tell me how old I am” (Line 36).