Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) is known as a poet's poet. She is acclaimed for her extraordinary care with words. The precision of her vocabulary, her dependence upon the visual, and her sense of the uncanny makes Bishop an engaging poet to read.

Bishop wrote in traditional and free verse forms. Often, her choice of poetic form is an extension of the poem's theme. The speaker in her villanelle "One Art" tries to convey her mastery of the art of losing. The speaker maintains the poetic form even while her confidence is deteriorating. "Sestina" is another example of Bishop's mastery of traditional form.

Elizabeth Bishop had a close, literary relationship with Robert Lowell. Her poem "The Armadillo" is dedicated to him. It can be read as a companion poem to Lowell's "Skunk Hour."

More on Bishop's Life
An Interview with the Poet
Bishop Reads "The Armadillo"
Literary Criticism of "One Art"

Photograph: Courtesy of Harvard Square Library
Information: Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, 3rd Edition