19 pages • 38 minutes read
Elizabeth BishopA Miracle for Breakfast
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1972A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Form and Meter
“A Miracle for Breakfast” is in the form of a sestina, so the words at the end of the lines in Stanza 1 serve as the words at the end of the lines—in a different order—in the other stanzas. The end words are “coffee,” “crumb,” “balcony,” “miracle,” “sun,” and “river.” The sestina places extra stress on the terms as they have to appear at least once in every stanza. The final stanza stands apart because it’s only three lines, so the poet has to repeat two of the end words in each line. The last stanza is called the envoi. The sestina form reinforces the surrealist elements of the poem since the recurring words haunt the poem. The form also emphasizes the theme of struggle since neither the speaker nor the crowd can escape their lack of nourishment, and the poem can’t depart from the six end words.
Although the line lengths are relatively even, Bishop doesn’t use a prescribed meter in the poem. The number of syllables varies from line to line, which reinforces the puzzling quality of the poem. The reader can’t predict the number of beats or what will happen next. Line 17 is ten syllables and features the man turning the roll into crumbs. In Line 18, 13 syllables, the man’s heads join the cloud and the sun. The peculiar line lengths link to the poem’s uncanny atmosphere.
Repetition
Repetition is a literary device where the poet repeats words to emphasize something important about the poem. As the poem is a sestina, the form requires Bishop to use repetition since she must repeat six words throughout the poem. Aside from the six end words, Bishop repeats other words like “man” and “birds.” The repetition of “man” highlights the difference between him and the crowd. The man is a singular individual, while the crowd is an anonymous mass. The man has the power; the crowd depends on him for help. Birds appear in Line 29 and Line 33, and the two times they appear help add to the theme of transcendence. Birds can fly; they help carry the speaker to the “beautiful villa” (Line 26) as each time the speaker mentions the birds, it's connected to their vision.
The word “one” appears in Line 5, Line 16, Line 17, Line 21, Line 23, and Line 30. The repetition of “one” reflects scarcity and singularity. There isn’t an abundance of sun, coffee, or bread. Only “[o]ne foot of the sun” (Line 5) is on the river, and the people receive only one crumb and one drop of coffee. Yet, with their “one eye close to the crumb” (Line 30), the speaker experiences a singular vision. Thus, the repetition of “one” also calls attention to the speaker’s distinct imagination.
Juxtaposition
When a poet uses juxtaposition, they set two different things or ideas beside one another so the reader can examine how they conflict or go together. Bishop uses this literary device throughout her poem. She juxtaposes the crowd with the sun to demonstrate the sun’s lack of concern. She then juxtaposes the crowd with the man to illustrate the idea of power and alienation. The man has the authority, but the crowd is helpless and dependent on him. The man doesn’t speak to the crowd, nor does the man give them what they want. The vision in Stanzas 5 and 6 is also a form of juxtaposition as it contrasts with the breakfast scene. There’s a sharp difference between the luxurious space in the speaker’s imagination and the glum scene at breakfast. The villa has sun and “gallons of coffee” (Line 36), while the breakfast scene receives no sun and only “one drop” of coffee (Line 23). Through juxtaposition, Bishop shows how a person’s imagination can provide relief even if the break is temporary.
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