In “Cape Breton”, Elizabeth Bishop describes a landscape for the rigid cliffs and the water that compose it, but also for its representation in a larger scale. The landscape is a representation of the peaceful world and how it is inevitably interrupted by human presence, affecting its ability to be natural. For Bishop, the landscape is surprisingly mysterious but constantly awaits the arrival of civilization, proving that we cannot always have just nature, but rather must have nature in relationship to humans. Bishop describes a landscape not as a world of things, but rather as a set of hidden ideas and meanings. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Bishop paints a mysterious landscape, with a wall of mist that "hangs in layers among the valleys and gorges of the continent" and "the ghosts of the glaciers" (Bishop 16, 18). The landscape is menacing and almost nervous, as if awaiting the arrival of something or someone. Bishop describes each feature of the landscape beyond its mere face value. She describes each part of the landscape as having feelings rather than being lifeless and emotionless, suggesting that the meaning of the landscape goes beyond the water and rocks that compose it. The glaciers are described as ghostly and the rocky edges are jagged and jagged. Bishop paints a more abstract, sometimes difficult to read, scene, focusing not on physical features per se, but on the mind's ability to transform them into ideas. The image presents the idea that landscapes and nature in general are more natural and peaceful when left alone, untouched by man. If Bishop painted the picture of trees, water, and all other elements as individual elements, it would be simple, without any underlying meaning. But it is here that Bishop's description of the landscape and the physical features within it work together to create emotions of mystery and magic. This allows the mind to contemplate the underlying meaning of the landscape, as something more than its physical qualities. The mysterious landscape described by Bishop is interrupted by the human presence. There are “from time to time small yellow bulldozers” and “kilometers of burned forests, laid out in gray stripes / like the admirable sculpture made on stone by stone” (25, 37-38). The once calm landscape is now dead and gray. The only sources of light are the yellow bulldozers and the yellow school bus traveling on the abandoned road. The bus is full of people and drops off a man and his baby who cross the meadow to a house at the water's edge. Bishop describes the physical qualities of the landscape and their connection to human life. Once the man and baby travel from the bus to the house on the water, the scenery is no longer the same. The landscape is no longer calm and mysterious, as if human presence had tainted this world. It is now meaningless and dead: “All that the landscape has meaning seems to have been/abandoned” (31-32). Bishop does not focus specifically on water or mountains, but focuses on landscape; what it feels like and what themes it evokes. Landscape is not a world of things, but rather a set of ideas and concepts. It is ironic that when the landscape changes from solitary to inhabited, when it is only inhabited by two people, the tone of the landscape immediately changes. Humans, usually considered full of life and noise, make the landscape quieter than ever: “And these regions now have little to say” (39). THE.