Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop

1. Filling Station

   • "a set of crushed and grease-/impregnated wickerwork;/on the wicker sofa/a dirty dog, quite comfy"
     • She notices comics which have been preserved from the grease, and a doily, which shows that some-one is trying to create beauty and domesticity in spite of the dirt that surrounds them.
   • "‘Why the extraneous plant?/Why the taboret?/Why, oh why, the doily?’"
     • She wonders why somebody makes an attempt to make the place beautiful when it’s all going to get dirty anyway. In the midst of dirt and untidiness, ‘somebody’ tries to create order and beauty.
   • "somebody loves us all"
     • The poem makes us question our life and our place in the world. The poem is an allegory. the grease and oil represents the disorder and chaos in our lives; the doily and plant represent our attempt to create beauty and order. The ‘somebody’ represents a God or presence that is always looking out for us.