The poem
The moon in the bureau mirror looks out a million miles (and perhaps with pride, at herself, but she never, never smiles) far and away beyond sleep, or perhaps she's a daytime sleeper.
By the Universe deserted, she'd tell it to go to hell, and she'd find a body of water, or a mirror, on which to dwell. So wrap up care in a cobweb and drop it down the well
into that world inverted where left is always right, where the shadows are really the body, where we stay awake all night, where the heavens are shallow as the sea is now deep, and you love me.
I think that this poem is really good....because I suffer from insomnia!
By: holly
This poem really isn't about insomnia...its about the speker (the moon) losing her love (arguably the universe), and saying to herslef that she is fine with out him, and only needs herself to survive (hence the mirror, water, reflection references). However, in the end it is revealed that she would actually like to be in "that world inverted," in other words, world of opposits or reflections (back to the whole mirror idea). She actually wants to be here, because in a different world, in a world that is opposit reality, he would actually love her. This is an incredible poem.
i like this poem very much though i dont understand why it is titled "insomnia" and i agree with carolyn from the united states with her interpetation
The poem's title is "Insomnia" because the speaker is lying awake at night, unable to sleep, considering the reflection of the moon in her mirror as she thinks about love. (The love of someone which is not reciprocated)
Elizabeth Bishop was a well known closet lesbian, and the poem is about her internal struggles. This is seen when she talks about being a daytime sleeper, as in she is the opposite of everyone else. In the third stanza she talks about wishing the world was inverted so that everyone else would be like her.
Jodie is right. The speaker in this poem is a woman who is in love with another woman. This is indicated not just by the daytime sleeping but by the word inverted which actually used to be used to indicate "homosexual". Due to the homophobia of the times their love could not be acknowledged by the "light of day", hence the insomnia.
U actually helped my with my class assignment.. thanks a bunch... :-)
That really helps with my assignment on this poem for my high school english class. Thank you
I can only say Thank you for your commments because my assignment is due in two days! THANKS!!
I'd caution against reading this as a "lesbian" poem. Yes, perhaps for Bishop it did refer to her homosexuality, but to define a poem as any one thing is dangerous and, imho, foolish. This poem can speak to a heterosexual person as much as a homosexual.
I'm hoping to cite this poem for a research paper and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what book this was originally published in and when the book was published. Please and thank you!
To be in a minority of any kind is to feel remote from the Universe, that is, the universe of one's social group. You may tell that universe to go to hell, but it will not, because it is stronger than you. It may say "It's OK, we understand your position" but it doesn't and you have to walk a precarious (left is right) line all the time, because that universe will break out any time and wreak its revenge on you for being different.
I agree with what Francis said about not reading this as a "lesbian" poem. Bishop is known for being unlike other modernist contemporary poets, who wrote in the "personal event confessional" style, such as Lowell. While obviously, she did incorporate her own feelings/experiences, her emotions portrayed in her poems are subtle enough that these poems really can relate to anyone.
Yes, Elizabeth Bishop may have been in love with women, but that does not necessarily make this a "lesbian" poem. The poet is in love, but she can't be with the one she wants to be with the most.