ONLINE: Marianne Moore and Elizabeth Bishop, both winners of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, had a colorful friend/mentor relationship. The poets met when Moore worked at the New York Public Library and Bishop was a student at Vassar College. Their poetry shows both similarities and dissimilarities. Both writers use nature in their work, but Moore uses animal life more often, touting creatures’ strength and virtues. Moore was also more the fabulist, Bishop the traveler, never putting down roots except for 15 years in Brazil. Consider these titles: “North & South,” “Questions of Travel,” “Geography III.” Both poets employ acute observation, precise description and evidence of restraint, humility and objectivity. Moore is original, even eccentric and revolutionary in her craft, Bishop more traditional and varied. Starting with Moore and concluding with Bishop, the class will read and discuss selected poems and come to see both poets' important influence on 20th-century poetry. | Facilitated discussion.
Max enrollment: 20.
