Who Is The Speaker In The Weed

A main poet that we have studied throughout the course thus far has been Elizabeth Bishop; an American woman from Massachusetts that has wrote many famous poems that have stood the test of time and continue to be read all around today. Of the many great poems that she has wrote, I personally connect with “The Weed” the most of all. Bishop’s poem “The weed” explores the phenomenon of how one can still impact the world once they are deceased. Through the metaphor of the plant or “weed” we as the reader can see the process one goes through after they pass away and what their contributions mean to the world even after they go. After analyzing this poem more closely I have come to the conclusion that Bishop believes that the world goes on just
fine after people go, and that their contributions may last longer then they did but, that eventually they will go just as quick to. But, when something old dies, something new can sprout up just as quickly and be equally as beautiful. By using the plant, we can see the comparison between it and the world and how they both are constantly changing, regardless of what is going on in it. Bishop explores the changes our world goes through and relates them to the weed and as readers we can see her emphasis.

The beginning of the poem sets the mood for the reader and makes them immediately feel saddened at what might the rest could be about.
"I dreamed that dead, and meditating, / I lay upon on a grave, or bed,” (1-2). Bishop uses the concept of dying in her dream to get the reader to understand the over all mood in which the poem will take. “I raised my head. A slight young weed/ had pushed up through the heart and its/ green head was nodding on the breast.” (15-17). The idea that the heart still continues to grow even after death is portrayed in these lines. Bishop as a writer wants her readers to see the how we can till grow and make changes in the world even after we die. The weed begins to grow, symbolizing our effects on the world but, as Bishop moves on with the poem we can see how little of a part we truly play. I think that she is trying to express the idea that life goes on, that new lives can begin once old lives are gone. This is a powerful concept to comprehend because no one wants to die nor do they see the benefit in doing so. But, through Bishop’s words we are encouraged to gain another perspective on life, one in which she chooses to
believe.

As we get deeper into the poem, we begin to realize the main idea that Bishop is trying to prove.
Although she is dead, something beautiful can still come out of that and grow. “It grew an inch like a blade of grass;/next, one leaf shot out of its side/a twisting, waving flag, and then/ two leaves moved like a semaphore.” (19-22). By showing how the plant continues to stem and grow larger out of her heart we can see how life is beginning to repeat itself again. Once something dies, something new begins to grow. I think that Bishop is trying to show how we can not dwell on the past, rather prepare ourselves for the future, because without our control things will move on regardless of how we feel. With this being said, Bishop wants us to see how life can develop into something better if we just give it a
chance.

Two rivers glanced from the sides,
One to the right, one to the left,
Two rushing, half-clear streams,
(the ribs made of them two cascades) which assuredly, smooth as glass, went off through the fine black grains of earth. (31-36)

These lines help move along the poem in the direction that Bishop intended. I connect with this part a great deal. When the two rivers go back into the “fine black grains of earth” I feel as if she is trying to say that because of the scarifices and