It is with the location, both factual and spiritual, of places that [Elizabeth Bishop's] poems often begin. It is with journeys, real and imaginary, to these places that they develop. Her definition and consideration of herself as a rational being, and her reaction as a sensitive instrument to her surroundings, to her place in the world and in the universe, have been, and continue to be, the central concerns of her poetry.

Geography III refers, I take it, to elementary geography at a grade-school level—but it must bear the added reference to the fact that this is Miss Bishop's third book of geographical exploration, the first two being North & South and Questions of Travel. (p. 3)

Geography III is a short book, slighter perhaps than Miss Bishop's previous volumes, but it contains at least three poems that rank among the best that she has written: "In the Waiting...