Nature and Man
Bishop is in constant dialogue with the idea that man is either separate from, or a part of, nature and she shifts between these two perspectives seamlessly. In 'The Fish' the exterior of the animal is described in defamiliarizing terms, alienating the reader from the natural world and making us consider a creature that is predator, prey, food and an external object. In a poem such as 'The Armadillo' humans are shown to be the cause of havoc and destruction as incendiary Chinese lanterns threaten an ecosystem. Yet at times man is conceived as no different from nature, as revealed in 'In the Waiting Room' where it is the natural state of a woman's body that provokes the narrator into existential meltdown.
Precision
Bishop's work is often seen by critics as a poetry of precision. Indeed, an accuracy to portraying the external world is a significant feature of her works. In a poem such as 'The Sandpiper', this becomes as intricate as describing the gaps between grains of sand on a beach. It is this precision that gives her poetry a scientific whiff; Bishop approaches the artform of poetry as if it were an empirical study, and her work thrives off this analysis.
Minimalism
Closely associated with her precision, is her minimalism. Greatly influenced by Ezra Pound's philosophy and Marianne Moore's mentorship of stripping the poem to its bare minimum while retaining - and as a result increasing - its potency, Bishop would spend years and years upon a single poem that might end up only being a few lines or stanzas long. 'One Art' seems to self consciously refer to this exercise, as loss is conceived as a skill that "isn't hard to master".
Mysteriousness
Despite being precise, minimalist and scientific, Bishop's poems are pervaded with a sense of mystery which borders on the magical. This is evoked actually through her precise, often defamiliarizing descriptions of the everyday. For example the cans in 'The Filling Station' that appear to "softly speak" or the striking rainbow of 'The Fish'. Rather than being in opposition to one another, it is the scientific precision of her poetry itself which feeds into the theme of mystery.
Existential Anxiety
'In the Waiting Room' articulates an individual on the precipice of existential breakdown provoked through her reflections on the commonplace and everyday. And yet despite her self-questioning, she returns from such crises without permanent emotional scarring: while we may often descend into crisis, Bishop possesses a certain faith within the everyday and natural world which can provide values and meaning in the face of an often meaningless world.
