The Filling Station
by Elizabeth Bishop
Oh, but it is dirty!
--this little filling station,
oil-soaked, oil-permeated
to a disturbing, over-all
black translucency.
Be careful with that match!
Father wears a dirty,
oil-soaked monkey suit
that cuts him under the arms,
and several quick and saucy
and greasy sons assist him
(it's a family filling station),
all quite thoroughly dirty.
Do they live in the station?
It has a cement porch
behind the pumps, and on it
a set of crushed and grease-
impregnated wickerwork;
on the wicker sofa
a dirty dog, quite comfy.
Some comic books provide
the only note of color--
of certain color. They lie
upon a big dim doily
draping a taboret
(part of the set), beside
a big hirsute begonia.
Why the extraneous plant?
Why the taboret?
Why, oh why, the doily?
(Embroidered in daisy stitch
with marguerites, I think,
and heavy with gray crochet.)
Somebody embroidered the doily.
Somebody waters the plant,
or oils it, maybe. Somebody
arranges the rows of cans
so that they softly say:
ESSO--SO--SO--SO
to high-strung automobiles.
Somebody loves us all.
by Elizabeth Bishop
Oh, but it is dirty!
--this little filling station,
oil-soaked, oil-permeated
to a disturbing, over-all
black translucency.
Be careful with that match!
Father wears a dirty,
oil-soaked monkey suit
that cuts him under the arms,
and several quick and saucy
and greasy sons assist him
(it's a family filling station),
all quite thoroughly dirty.
Do they live in the station?
It has a cement porch
behind the pumps, and on it
a set of crushed and grease-
impregnated wickerwork;
on the wicker sofa
a dirty dog, quite comfy.
Some comic books provide
the only note of color--
of certain color. They lie
upon a big dim doily
draping a taboret
(part of the set), beside
a big hirsute begonia.
Why the extraneous plant?
Why the taboret?
Why, oh why, the doily?
(Embroidered in daisy stitch
with marguerites, I think,
and heavy with gray crochet.)
Somebody embroidered the doily.
Somebody waters the plant,
or oils it, maybe. Somebody
arranges the rows of cans
so that they softly say:
ESSO--SO--SO--SO
to high-strung automobiles.
Somebody loves us all.
What struck me the most when i first read this poem was how dark the speaker described a 'little filling station' as 'dirty' and 'oilsoaked' the speaker uses dark colours suck as black to create a dark feeling to this place. I feel that the speaker does not like filling stations beacuse she uses the word dirty three times in the first two verses
ReplyDeleteI think Bishop is talking in a stream of conciousness as she is just talking about what she is seeing around her. I don't think she really cared if people saw this poem as at the time this place obviously meant something to her and that's all she really cared about,describing this place and her thoughts on it and going into microscopic detail and painting a visual image for the reader. -Caitríona
ReplyDeleteBishop allows us to enter her detailed perspective on a family run filling station, dirtied with oil and grease. I like how she wrote about the underlying signs of care for the station and the attempts of tidiness from the family.
ReplyDeleteZ
My impression of the 'Filling Station' was how Bishop tries to create a image of a filling Station where the workers all live a dirty enviroment with the sounds and smells of oil and gas. Even In this place of grim and greasy machinery, Someone still places doilies on the tables and someone waters the plants.
ReplyDeleteBishop shows us that even in these places someone still cares enough to make the effort to brighten up the place.
My first impression of 'Filling station' was that Bishop tries to paint a picture in our mind of a family that are acting like they live in a filling station. I like how the speaker makes a picture in the poem of the cans sitting on the shelf, 'Esso-so-so-so'.
ReplyDeleteA.Y
I Liked when the speaker says "Somebody loves us all" beacuse it is a change from what she said in the rest of the poem and it makes the reader feel positive about themself.
ReplyDeleteCB
My first impression of Bishop is that when she writes these poems she writes them for herself to read rather that others. I believe she writes them so that she can understand them and we cannot. She expresses herself through the confusion of others.
ReplyDelete