20 pages • 40 minutes read
Elizabeth BishopFive Flights Up
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1974A 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
“Five Flights Up” is an example of free verse since it’s free of meter or rhyme, which is a big reason why the poem has somewhat of a zigzag form. With free verse, Bishop has the liberty to make her lines as long or short as she wants. Thus, Line 1 is only two words, while Line 2 stretches to eight words. The stanza length doesn’t abide by a predictable pattern either. Stanza 1 is nine lines, Stanza 2 is five lines (a quintet), and Stanzas 3 and 4 are six lives (sestets).
Unlike the owner, the poem doesn’t have a “stern” (Line 16) shape. Bishop doesn’t try to force her poem into a tidy or strict configuration. The poem reflects the values of the speaker, who questions the owner and sides with the animals, time, and nature. Similar to the morning, the poem’s shape is “ponderous” (Line 10)—it’s somewhat chunky and long winded. Like the dog, the poem’s shape “bounces cheerfully up and down” (Line 19) at the parts it switches from a long line to a short line or vice-versa.
In “Five Flights Up,” one of the main messages is that a person or creature shouldn’t impose themselves on time; they should let night, day, and nature take care of things. Bishop applies that belief to her poem’s form since she doesn’t try to impose meter, rhyme, similar line lengths, or even stanzas.
Diction
Diction is a literary device that helps the poet create their tone and develop their ideas through the words they use. In “Five Flights Up,” Bishop’s speaker uses words that reflect the specificity of the morning and the day while, at the same time, using words that reinforce the mystery of time and nature. For example, the speaker describes the bird as an “unknown bird” (Line 2). The adjective “unknown” says something specific about the bird. The speaker could’ve said, “The bird sits on his usual branch.” The inclusion of “unknown” brings nuance and mystery since the speaker describes the bird, but the description announces that they don’t know much about him. Thus, the diction is precise and puzzling.
The elusive diction continues when the speaker quips, “Questions—if that is what they are” (Line 7). The speaker specifies the inquiries by calling them questions, only to modify the specificity by allowing for the possibility that they could be something else. Whatever they are, day finds a way to answer them “directly” and “simply” (Line 8). These adverbs produce nuance, but since the speaker doesn’t disclose what the answers entail, they also add to the puzzle.
Mood
The mood is a literary device that helps the poet infuse their poem with a certain feeling. In “Five Flights Up,” Bishops uses the other literary devices—like diction, tone, form, and meter—to create a ponderous, puzzling mood. The diction and tone might make the reader feel a bit stumped. The loose form and meter could add to the puzzling mood since there’s no clear pattern. The mood reflects the belief that a person or creature has to trust the flow of things and find comfort in a meaning that’s not fully explained. The dog and bird “know everything is answered” (Line 22). They’re confident there’s “no need to ask again” (Line 24). The puzzling mood seems to summon that same kind of trust in the reader. Perhaps the reader should know that all is “taken care of” (Line 23) and not become too frustrated with the poem’s whimsical, elusive mood.
With the owner, the speaker provides a counter to the wondrous, laidback mood. The owner’s aggravated mood stands out. They’re in an upset place, so they scream at the dog, “You ought to be ashamed!” (Line 17). If the reader doesn’t want to be like the disgruntled owner, they should find a way to make peace with the somewhat mystifying mood of the poem.
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