The Complete Poems 1927-1979 Book

Oblique, bizarre, and brilliantly crafted, Bishop's poems offer slanted perspectives on a wide scope of subjects: nature, national history, endurance, travel, injustice, loss. The poet's work increases in complexity and ambition with each collection, though it defies easy categorization from the start. Bishop wrote in a distinctive style so unlike that of the most famous poets of her generation. Her poems care neither for emotional revelation nor experiments in syntax; instead, they quietly revel in playing with rhetoric and sound, mostly within the boundaries of conventional forms. There's nothing else quite like Bishop's poetry in English, making The Complete Poems worth reading at least once.