Elizabeth Bishop was vehement about her art--a perfectionist who didn't want to be seen as a "Woman poet." In 1977, two years before her death she wrote, "Art is art and to separate writings, paintings, musical compositi...Elizabeth Bishop was vehement about her art--a perfectionist who didn't want to be seen as a "Woman poet." In 1977, two years before her death she wrote, "Art is art and to separate writings, paintings, musical compositions, etc., into two sexes is to emphasize values in them that are art." She also deeply distrusted the dominant mode of modern poetry, one practiced with such detached passion by her friend robert lowell, the confessional.