---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and…"
description: "\"“Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and poems about lovemaking, and one of the best poems ever written in English about the loss of love, but she had m..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/megan-marshall-19595_loss-of-love_elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-po_1123400.jpg"
---

#  Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and poems about…

![“Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and poems about lovemaking, and one of the best poems ever written in English about the loss of love, but she had made her way through life as an orphan, a solitary. Reticence wasn’t the reason she’d become a poet of the self—of a singular “mind in action,” as…” quote by Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/megan-marshall-19595_loss-of-love_elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-po_1123400.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/megan-marshall-19595_loss-of-love_elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-po_1123400.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/megan-marshall-19595_loss-of-love_elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-po_1123400.jpg)

> ““Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and poems about lovemaking, and one of the best poems ever written in English about the loss of love, but she had made her way through life as an orphan, a solitary. Reticence wasn’t the reason she’d become a poet of the self—of a singular “mind in action,” as she’d once described the effect she hoped to achieve in her poems. She had discovered early on, perhaps too early, that she was “an I . . . an Elizabeth”—and she’d treasured that painful, “unlikely” self-awareness ever since, knowing it was the same thing as her imagination.””

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Bishop’s self‑awareness and solitary upbringing shaped a poetic voice that explores love, loss, and imagination with precise intimacy.

**In simple terms:** Her unique self‑knowledge fuels her poetic imagination.

Key Takeaway

Embrace personal insight to deepen creative work.

Themes

self‑awareness solitude imagination love loss

Mood

introspective melancholic inspirational

Type

literary personal philosophical

When to use this quote

- writing poetry
- teaching literature
- personal therapy
- artistic mentorship

Key Concepts

poetic voice identity creative process

Questions to Reflect On

- How does solitude influence artistic depth?
- Can self‑awareness be cultivated?

A Different Perspective

Her solitary perspective may limit broader social engagement.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Loss of love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss-of-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-poems/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/)

## Related quotes

> [...to be a poet, requires a mythology of the self. The self described is the poet self, to which the daily self (and others)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-be-a-poet-requires-a-mythology-of-the-self-the-self-described-is/)

[Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/)

> [I was at a benefit for some imprisoned students in the '60s at San Francisco State, and there were lots of poets reading for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-was-at-a-benefit-for-some-imprisoned-students-in-the-60s-at-san/)

[Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/)

> [“WRITING POETRY IS an unnatural act,” Elizabeth Bishop”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/writing-poetry-is-an-unnatural-act-elizabeth-bishop/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Once I heard my mother say that each of us lives in a separate universe, one we have dreamed into being. We love pople…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/once-i-heard-my-mother-say-that-each-of-us-lives-in-a-separate/)

[Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/)

> [“For you are you, and I am I, and once we were we… but as long as I exist and so do you –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/for-you-are-you-and-i-am-i-and-once-we-were-we-but-as-long-as-i-exist/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“The only place I ever felt at home was with you. There isn’t a place for me anywhere anymore… I’ve been evicted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/the-only-place-i-ever-felt-at-home-was-with-you-there-isn-t-a-place/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“Fear manifested itself as a physical presence that seemed to dominate the public sphere. Time almost stopped. Even without confirmation I could sense that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/fear-manifested-itself-as-a-physical-presence-that-seemed-to-dominate/)

[Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/)

> [“I would do almost anything for him to kiss me; his possessive lips and eager tongue invading my mouth, even the thought sent tingles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercy-cortez/i-would-do-almost-anything-for-him-to-kiss-me-his-possessive-lips-and/)

[Mercy Cortez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercy-cortez/)

> [“I miss that feeling of connection. Knowing he was out there somewhere thinking about me at the same time I was thinking about him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/i-miss-that-feeling-of-connection-knowing-he-was-out-there-somewhere/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“Though it’s reasons to burn may vary... you are always the fuel of my fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/though-it-s-reasons-to-burn-may-vary-you-are-always-the-fuel-of-my/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“You are gone silence screams in my ears I have cold feet Stepping out of my bed that morning was the hardest thing I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakshi-narula/you-are-gone-silence-screams-in-my-ears-i-have-cold-feet-stepping-out/)

[Sakshi Narula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakshi-narula/)

> [“I'd breathe for her. I'd see for her, hear for her, and feel for her. I'd even die for her. Thousands of times. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiana-dalichov/i-d-breathe-for-her-i-d-see-for-her-hear-for-her-and-feel-for-her-i-d/)

[Tiana Dalichov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiana-dalichov/)

> [“Who knows about another's love? The more you love the more you know the burnt out loss of love, the more you heed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/who-knows-about-another-s-love-the-more-you-love-the-more-you-know/)

[Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/)

> [“She refused to know love again. The thought of another heartbreak was far too much for her to bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-a-o-neal/she-refused-to-know-love-again-the-thought-of-another-heartbreak-was/)

[Terry a O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-a-o-neal/)

> [At the end of the day, everyone knows what it is to be loved and to aspire to love someone, to want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/at-the-end-of-the-day-everyone-knows-what-it-is-to-be-loved-and-to/)

[David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/)

## More by Megan Marshall

> [“At thirty-six, Margaret believed her “mind and character” were already “too much formed” through “a liberal communion with the woful struggling crowd of fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/at-thirty-six-margaret-believed-her-mind-and-character-were-already/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“The expansion of their dyad to include the “young people” gave both Margaret and Waldo hope of more: “of being often &amp; often shined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/the-expansion-of-their-dyad-to-include-the-young-people-gave-both/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“A man’s idea of God corresponds to his ideal of himself. The nobler he is, the more exalted his God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/a-man-s-idea-of-god-corresponds-to-his-ideal-of-himself-the-nobler-he/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“Yet “Platonic affection” can only seem “sublimated and idealized to the more experienced.” It was a painful message for Margaret, an unmarried woman with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/yet-platonic-affection-can-only-seem-sublimated-and-idealized-to-the/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“And there was a fourth, “highest grade” of marriage, which included the best features of the others, “home sympathies” and “intellectual communion,” but added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/and-there-was-a-fourth-highest-grade-of-marriage-which-included-the/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“It was in Horace Greeley that Margaret recognized a “go-ahead, fearless adroitness” that was simply “American.” Waldo’s deprecatory assessment that Greeley was “no scholar,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/it-was-in-horace-greeley-that-margaret-recognized-a-go-ahead-fearless/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“It was not just her unusual intellect and outsized personality that made Margaret seem to Waldo more manly than feminine, but also her anomalous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/it-was-not-just-her-unusual-intellect-and-outsized-personality-that/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“She had made the observation several years before to a startled Waldo Emerson that “women are Slaves.” Married women in particular—and that meant most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/she-had-made-the-observation-several-years-before-to-a-startled-waldo/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“Why do women love bad men? Margaret had asked the question herself, and answered it, in Woman in the Nineteenth Century. The belief that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/why-do-women-love-bad-men-margaret-had-asked-the-question-herself-and/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“long as man “has the physical power, as well as the conventional” to treat a woman “like a play-thing or a slave,” she’d written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/long-as-man-has-the-physical-power-as-well-as-the-conventional-to/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“But she worried about how the older students, who were required to leave the school at age twelve, would find work. Many of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/but-she-worried-about-how-the-older-students-who-were-required-to/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“am caught in such a net of ties here.” Again she almost revealed her secret: “if ever you know of my life here, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/am-caught-in-such-a-net-of-ties-here-again-she-almost-revealed-her/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“Woman, self-centred, would never be absorbed by any relation.” The “excessive devotion” that results when women live “so entirely for men,” when a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/woman-self-centred-would-never-be-absorbed-by-any-relation-the/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“from a very early age . . . that I was not born to the common womanly lot. I knew I should never find a being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/from-a-very-early-age-that-i-was-not-born-to-the-common-womanly-lot-i/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

> [“indeed there are soul realities,” with “mein liebster” at a safe distance. “I have never had one at all like it, and I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/indeed-there-are-soul-realities-with-mein-liebster-at-a-safe-distance/)

[Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

[Explore all 32 Megan Marshall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/)

## More Loss of love quotes

> [At the end of the day, everyone knows what it is to be loved and to aspire to love someone, to want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/at-the-end-of-the-day-everyone-knows-what-it-is-to-be-loved-and-to/)

[David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/)

> [“She refused to know love again. The thought of another heartbreak was far too much for her to bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-a-o-neal/she-refused-to-know-love-again-the-thought-of-another-heartbreak-was/)

[Terry a O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-a-o-neal/)

> [“Who knows about another's love? The more you love the more you know the burnt out loss of love, the more you heed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/who-knows-about-another-s-love-the-more-you-love-the-more-you-know/)

[Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/)

> [“I'd breathe for her. I'd see for her, hear for her, and feel for her. I'd even die for her. Thousands of times. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiana-dalichov/i-d-breathe-for-her-i-d-see-for-her-hear-for-her-and-feel-for-her-i-d/)

[Tiana Dalichov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiana-dalichov/)

> [“You are gone silence screams in my ears I have cold feet Stepping out of my bed that morning was the hardest thing I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakshi-narula/you-are-gone-silence-screams-in-my-ears-i-have-cold-feet-stepping-out/)

[Sakshi Narula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakshi-narula/)

> [“Though it’s reasons to burn may vary... you are always the fuel of my fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/though-it-s-reasons-to-burn-may-vary-you-are-always-the-fuel-of-my/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“I miss that feeling of connection. Knowing he was out there somewhere thinking about me at the same time I was thinking about him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/i-miss-that-feeling-of-connection-knowing-he-was-out-there-somewhere/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“I would do almost anything for him to kiss me; his possessive lips and eager tongue invading my mouth, even the thought sent tingles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercy-cortez/i-would-do-almost-anything-for-him-to-kiss-me-his-possessive-lips-and/)

[Mercy Cortez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercy-cortez/)

> [“Fear manifested itself as a physical presence that seemed to dominate the public sphere. Time almost stopped. Even without confirmation I could sense that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/fear-manifested-itself-as-a-physical-presence-that-seemed-to-dominate/)

[Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/)

> [“The only place I ever felt at home was with you. There isn’t a place for me anywhere anymore… I’ve been evicted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/the-only-place-i-ever-felt-at-home-was-with-you-there-isn-t-a-place/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“For you are you, and I am I, and once we were we… but as long as I exist and so do you –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/for-you-are-you-and-i-am-i-and-once-we-were-we-but-as-long-as-i-exist/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [Once I heard my mother say that each of us lives in a separate universe, one we have dreamed into being. We love pople…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/once-i-heard-my-mother-say-that-each-of-us-lives-in-a-separate/)

[Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/)

> [“I still don't have the heart to press delete. So, I’m archiving all your pictures and memories to make room for something far better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitali-meelan/i-still-don-t-have-the-heart-to-press-delete-so-i-m-archiving-all/)

[Mitali Meelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitali-meelan/)

> [“If you cannot hold me in your arms, then hold my memory in high regard. And if I cannot be in your life, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/if-you-cannot-hold-me-in-your-arms-then-hold-my-memory-in-high-regard/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

> [“Though I never really had you…. … to me you will always be the one that got away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranata-suzuki/though-i-never-really-had-you-to-me-you-will-always-be-the-one-that/)

[Ranata Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranata-suzuki/)

[Browse all 126 Loss of love quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss-of-love/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and poems about lovemaking, and one of the best poems ever written in English about the loss of love, but she had made her way through life as an orphan, a solitary. Reticence wasn’t the reason she’d become a poet of the self—of a singular “mind in action,” as she’d once described the effect she hoped to achieve in her poems. She had discovered early on, perhaps too early, that she was “an I . . . an Elizabeth”—and she’d treasured that painful, “unlikely” self-awareness ever since, knowing it was the same thing as her imagination.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Megan Marshall"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-poems-about-lovemaking-and-one/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Loss of love"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-poems-about-lovemaking-and-one/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/megan-marshall-19595_loss-of-love_elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-po_1123400.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/megan-marshall-19595_loss-of-love_elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-po_1123400.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/megan-marshall-19595_loss-of-love_elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-po_1123400.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and poems about lovemaking, and one of the best poems ever written in…” — Megan Marshall",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Megan Marshall",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-poems-about-lovemaking-and-one/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-poems-about-lovemaking-and-one/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
