First Death in Nova Scotia

“First Death in Nova Scotia” is a lyric poem by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Elizabeth Bishop. First published in her third poetry collection, Questions of Travel (1965), the poem, like many of Bishop’s poems, relies on jarring images and acute diction. Through themes like The Eeriness of Death, Innocence and Defamiliarization, and A Lack of Emotion Surrounding Death, Bishop conveys the message that death is a strange, disorienting experience. “First Death” is one of Bishop’s more well-known poems, though it is not as famous as “The Fish” (1946) or “One Art” (1976). Aside from poetry, Bishop published short stories, translations, essays, and a travel book about Brazil, where she lived for many years.

Content Warning: The poem and this guide discuss death and a funeral, and this guide briefly mentions death by suicide.

Poet Biography

Elizabeth Bishop was born on February 8, 1911, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her father, William Bishop, came from an affluent family, but William died from Bright’s disease (a historical term for kidney inflammation) when Bishop was eight months old. Bishop’s mother, Gertrude Bulmer, was an ice skater and trained nurse. Gertrude and Bishop regularly visited Great Village, Nova Scotia, where Gertrude’s family lived. They moved there in 1915 when Gertrude experienced a mental illness; she eventually entered a hospital, where she stayed until her death. Bishop moved back to Massachusetts to live with family members from her father’s side.

In 1930, Bishop enrolled in the women’s college Vassar. She met the American Modernist poet Marianne Moore, who helped Bishop navigate the literary profession. After college, Bishop moved to New York City and traveled with friends. She became close with the confessional poet Robert Lowell, and she published her first book, North & South, in 1946. In 1955, Bishop published Poems, which brought together North & South (then out of print) and her new poetry collection, A Cold Spring. The collection won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1965, Bishop published Questions of Travel, which features “First Death in Nova Scotia.”

While traveling to Brazil in 1951, Bishop met Maria Carlota Costellat de Macedo Soares—or Lota. Lota came from a prominent family and was an influential city planner. Bishop and Lota fell in love, and they lived together in Brazil for almost 15 years. Bishop didn’t define her sexuality, but she had many romantic relationships with women other than Lota. Like her mother and Lowell, Bishop experienced mental illness. In 1979, Bishop died from a cerebral aneurysm while getting ready for dinner.

Poem text

Bishop, Elizabeth. “First Death in Nova Scotia.” 1965. Minnesota Public Radio.

Summary

The poem centers on a memory that the speaker has of being a young child. The speaker’s small, younger cousin, Arthur, has died of an unspecified cause. As the title indicates, the speaker is in Nova Scotia—a Canadian province. The speaker’s mother lies Arthur’s body out beneath pictures of British royalty, as Canada was one of England’s dominions at that time. Near the portraits is a loon, a waterbird, that the speaker’s uncle, also named Arthur, shot and stuffed. The speaker notes that the bird can’t speak. They describe the bird’s red eyes and white body.

The speaker’s mother wants the speaker to say goodbye to their cousin. An adult lifts them, and the speaker puts a lily in Arthur’s hand. Cousin Arthur’s whiteness makes the speaker think of Jack Frost and the loon. The bird’s red eyes push the speaker to return to the pictures of British royalty, who are “warm in red and ermine” (Line 42). The speaker imagines the royals inviting Arthur for a visit, but they doubt that Arthur will be able to make the journey.