"Sestina" Poetry Paper

How could you possibly understand a poem named “Sestina”, just by reading the title? You may assume it’s just a quirky poem about how to write a sestina or just think it’s another language. However, as you read, you discover that the title has nothing to do with the poem’s meaning. So how could you possibly understand this poem? The fact is that; Elizabeth Bishop uses setting, diction, and figurative language to convey the tone and theme of “Sestina”.

The setting of the outside is often mirrored on the inside. This relation to each other is displayed at the start of the poem where it says, “September rain falls on the house. In failing light, the old grandmother sits in the kitchen….” Outside the house rain falls, and inside the house there is a failing light. The “September rain” makes the outside dark and gloomy, just as the “failing light” makes the inside dark and sad. In the second stanza the lines, “her equinoctial tears and the rain that beats on the roof of the house…” shows another mirroring. The rain outside is reflected as the tears from the grandmother inside. One last display of this mirroring is present in the third stanza. “ The teakettle’s small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove, the way the rain must dance on the house.” Both inside and outside, the rain, which is mirrored by the tears of the teakettle, are dancing. The marriage of the two environments is an overall backdrop to the poem.

Bishop uses diction to communicate to the readers’ senses. “The kettle sings on the stove,” is usage of sensually vivid diction. The usage of the word “sings” appeals to sound in the poem. It adds a musical sound in the backdrop that makes the kitchen lively. “Tears” is a word used repeatedly throughout the poem. The use appeals emotionally to the reader. “Talking to hide her tears,” in the sixth line, “teacup full of dark brown tears,” in line 22 and “man with buttons like tears,” in line 29 are examples of the use of emotional diction to communicate a continuous mood of sadness throughout the poem. In the last line of the poem the word “inscrutable” is used. The word leaves the reader thinking, causing it to appeal intellectually. The reader is unknowing of how the lives of the grandmother and child continue.

Figurative language is the most significant element of poetry used. Bishop’s use of personification ultimately helps the reader understand the underlying theme. In stanza five she brings the stove and almanac to life. “It was to be,” says the Marvel Stove. “I know what I know,” says the almanac. An almanac offers knowledge on weather history, long-range forecasts, sunrises, sunsets, full moons, lunar phases and etc. The stove and almanac know something that the grandmother and child don’t. The almanac was hung to hover over the room. This unknowing factor of what is missing will gloom or hover over the grandmother and the child. “It’s time to plant tears,” says the almanac in the last stanza. Planting an item represents growth. This is the growth that will come to the grandmother over time through all of her grief. Personification is present once more in stanza 3, line 16, which reads, “The way the rain must dance on the house.” The dancing rain is moving or beating against this house of grief. The rain in this case symbolizes the restoration that shall move about or beat against the house. The restoration would be restoring the mood of the house back to its former state.

Without recognizing the setting, diction and figurative language present in Elizabeth Bishop’s “Sestina”, it would be hard to understand the meaning and tone of the poem. With them the reader recognizes that the tone can be grief, gloomy, or somber. The powerful meaning discovered is that through all the grief and sadness that you may experience from a death, there is still is sense of restoration and a glimmer of growth. One last question is; Why would the poet named such a powerful poem only after its poetic form?