Bidwell Ghost (Style)

Style

“Bidwell Ghost” is written in eight short free verse stanzas, each usually three lines long. Unlike traditional verse, where each line is determined by a set number of accents or metric feet, the line lengths in this poem vary widely, ranging anywhere from four to sixteen words each. In free verse, the form of the poem grows from the poem’s changing moods and subject matter — in this case, the poet chooses short, individual stanzas to organize her images. Stanza, in Italian, literally means room, so it might be useful to think of reading this poem as walking through eight small rooms and seeing, smelling, hearing, and touching the images placed in each. Erdrich closes every stanza with a period, not letting any images flow into the next. These lines ending on a period are called end-stopped lines, unlike enjambed lines, which have no punctuation at the end and “run over” to the next line or stanza.

Topics for Further Study

• Discuss the nature images — apple trees, nests, agates, snow, etc. — that are associated with the ghost. What relationship between natural and supernatural does this poem imply?
• Choose a story that you have been told as “true” and research it on one of the Internet sites devoted to urban legends. Then write a poem about it.
• Research some of the scientific processes described in this poem. How long, for instance, would it take apple trees that have been charred in a fire to grow enough to start bearing fruit again? What chemicals will apples decomposing on the ground turn into? What are the chances that new trees will grow and blossom from charred wood?
• Write an explanation for why this poem changes at the end with four lines in the last stanza whereas all of the other stanzas had three.
• Examine some ghost stories from Native American tribes of the American Midwest and identify particular elements that seem to be related to this poem.