I haven't finished it yet. So far, I like it!

Another continuous read. Not daunting for the non-poet, but enriching for the soul of the poet as well.

I was very pleased to come across this book on a quick scan of my shelves a while ago. I had set a goal of reading at least one poem a day for a whole month, so I knew the book would help me achieve that. I have enjoyed the poems of Bishop I have become familiar with in English classes over the years, which is likely why I picked this book up somewhere secondhand. I was amazed at her range, even in here earliest works from her late teens, and was pleased to find a few new ones that will be added to my personal favorites collection. She had some very lovely translations in there, as well, of works by Brazilian poets mostly, which were an interesting glimpse into a literary world I have never studied.

So "Man-Moth" (mammoth) and "Velocipastor" (velociraptor) are functionally in the same clade. Nice.

I enjoyed reading Elizabeth Bishop's poems. She writes simply, but it is still beautiful. I enjoyed how much she varies in her writings instead of just writing the same thing over and over again. One of my favorite poems was "Crusoe in England" because it took the story of Robinson Crusoe and showed what Crusoe was feeling after he returned from the island.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book of poetry.

Poetry is really not my favorite genre to read, so reading this was meant to stretch me out of my comfort zone. I first heard about Bishop when her poem “One Art” was used in the movie In Her Shoes. I enjoyed that poem and so I added this book to my “to read” list 10 years ago. And there it sat. I still really like “One Art” and think it’s her best poem, but there were a lot of poems in her I had to slog through, and my mind kept wandering. In reading up on the author, I found she had an interesting and yet difficult life. I’m glad I tried it, but definitely won’t revisit it.