19 pages • 38 minutes read
The Shampoo
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Literary Devices
Form and Meter
Although the poem consists of three sestets or six-line stanzas, Bishop’s “Shampoo” doesn’t have a tidy form. The lines are uneven, with some lines (Line 8, for example) looking clipped and other lines (Lines 5 and 6, for example) jutting out. The varying line length reinforces the “explosions” (Line 1) and “shocks” (Line 3) of the poem. Shampooing is a galvanizing exercise for the speaker and their friend. The mix of long and short lines emphasizes how washing the hair represents a joyous jolt for the speaker. As with the “tin basin” (Line 17), the speaker batters or beats back some of the lines while letting other lines come forward.
Conversely, the form represents an order that advances the “amenable” (Line 12) environment of the speaker and their friend. Aside from the three sestets, Bishop employs the same rhyme scheme in all three stanzas, with Lines 1 and 3, Lines 2 and 5, and Lines 4 and 6 rhyming in each respective stanza. The rhymes create a subtle melody that mirrors the pleasantness the speaker obtains from washing their friend’s hair. The rhymes also bolster the idea of partners or pairs—each line has another line to rhyme with, and the speaker has someone else to be with: Their “dear friend” (Line 9).
Diction
Diction refers to a poet or writer’s specific choice of words. In “The Shampoo,” Bishop’s diction expresses the poem’s plurality of themes. In Stanza 1, the speaker uses dense, somewhat technical terms to emphasize the importance of nature and its link to the friend’s hair. A word like “concentric” (Line 3) produces a precise, almost scientific tone in Stanza 1.
The speaker then switches to a personal diction when they declare, “[W]ithin our memories they have not changed” (Line 6). The words, “our” and “memories,” connect to humans, so these words depart from the intricately detached diction in Lines 1-5 and move the poem into an intimate realm.
The entrance of “heavens” (Line 7) adds a spiritual word into the mix and thus, creates a religious sentiment. The speaker then returns to personal terms with “on us” (Line 8), “you’ve been” (Line 9), and “[c]ome, let me wash it in this big tin basin”(Line 17). The presence of the various pronouns reinforces the closeness of the speaker and their friend, with the speaker directly addressing their friend in Line 9 and Line 17, as if the poem wasn’t a public text but a private letter.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary device that lets the poet compare one thing to something else that may be quite different. The device allows the reader to see that thing from a new perspective. In “The Shampoo,” the speaker partly expresses the process and joy of washing their friend’s hair through metaphor. The opening image is arguably an intricate metaphor for their friend’s hair. The speaker compares their friend’s hair to “still explosions on the rocks” (Line 1) and “spreading, gray, concentric shocks” (Line 3). The metaphor shows what a fascinating natural phenomenon something as ordinary as hair can be—especially when the hair belongs to a “dear friend” (Line 9). In the speaker’s eyes, hair is not a dormant, dull area: It’s a place that contains all the wonders of the natural world.
The metaphor extends beyond Stanza 1 and continues in Stanza 3, with the “shooting stars” (Line 13). First, the speaker compares the friend’s hair to explosions and lichens. Now, the speaker compares the friend’s hair to fiery stars. The star metaphor doubles down on the natural wonders of the friend’s hair and accentuates its galvanizing, stimulating properties.
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By Elizabeth Bishop
