Elizabeth Bishop The Fish Analysis

Although not a lot is known nearly Bishop'south life, she did spend fourth dimension fishing as a young girl. She likely experienced something similar to the events depicted in 'The Fish.'Throughout this poem, readers will experience the torrent of emotions the primary character does. She feels torn nearly her accomplishment, how the fish acted, how it looks, and what those things say near its history. Information technology has a value, strength, and dignity of its own, and that'southward something the speaker chooses to preserve.

The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop

Summary

'The Fish' by Elizabeth Bishop is a narrative verse form that describes a speaker's reaction subsequently communicable a venerable, homely, and large fish.

The poem begins with the speaker telling the reader that she went angling and caught a "tremendous fish." She emphasizes the fact that as she was reeling in the fish, it did not fight at all. Bishop uses three adjectives to describe it. It is "battered," "venerable," and "homely." She goes on, spending the next lines giving in-depth details about the state of the skin. She compares it to one-time wallpaper that is peeling off the walls of an ancient firm. In the next 7 lines, the sight of the claret inspires the speaker to consider the fish's insides. From by experience catching, killing, and eating these animals, she knows that the "white flesh" is "packed in like feathers."

Nearly importantly, she notes that there are "five old pieces of fishing line" in the fish'south mouth. They are all "still attached" to their "five big hooks." The speaker continues to stare at the fish, and she begins to experience a sense of victory. She besides notices the oil in the boat and the way it spread into a rainbow. The speaker was awed by these sights, and suddenly everything appeared to exist a rainbow. This new state of mind encouraged her to release the fish.

You can read the full poem,The Fish here.

Assay of the Title

Bishop's poem,'The Fish,'has a straightforward title that's hard to misinterpret. It designated this poem equally focused on "the fish" the young principal grapheme catches. This ensures that the reader puts equally much time into thinking virtually the fish as possible, rather than analyzing other, less central parts of the text.

Themes

'The Fish'is one of those poems that seems simple from the outside but really contains smashing depths of meaning. In the text, Bishop engages with themes of nature, humility, and choices. Later on catching this extremely noteworthy fish, it is her choice to release it back into the water. She had a moment of connection with the animal that spread out into a broader connexion with the natural world. She was all of a sudden more a part of things than she had been in the past, her state of mind was altered. Additionally, information technology is articulate that this particular creature's history moved her, the number of times it had been caught, and how each time it escaped decease. This speaks to some other less obvious theme–death.

Construction and Form

Information technology is written in costless poetry, meaning that there is no specific pattern of rhyme or meter to the lines. In full, at that place are 76 lines contained within a single stanza. They are all like in length, adequately short, and sometimes devious into the realm trimeter. This means that a number of them, although nowhere close to all of them, comprise three sets of two beats. Over again, there is no unmarried blueprint of rhythm to the text.

When scanning the poem, the reader will immediately notice the dashes. Bishop chose to incorporate this form of punctuation into the verse form in order to make the reader interruption and consider what her speaker just said. Often, the dashes are also used to represent the speaker'due south own incertitude. She pauses to think about her own words before continuing.

Literary Devices

While there is not a rhyme scheme, there are also a few moments of complete or perfect rhyme. For example, a reader can look to lines one and six with the words "caught" and "fought." The word "thought" as well connects to the word "fight" directly above it in line number v, besides as to "out" in line three. These relate to one another due to consonance or the employ of like consonant sounds.

Repetition appears throughout the text and in different forms. In that location are examples of it lines seventy and seventy-one with the use and reuse of the word "rusted." Another moment is in line sixty-five with the repetition of the word "stared."

Alliteration occurs when words are used in succession, or at least announced close together, and begin with the same letter. This is 1 of the most mutual techniques used by poets and appears a number of times in 'The Fish.' For example, in line thirty-eight, she uses the phrase "tarnished tinfoil."

Some other poetic technique Bishop makes employ of is simile. There are a few examples, such as in line twenty-eight when the speaker describes the flesh of the fish every bit "packed like feathers."

Analysis of The Fish

Lines 1-seven

I caught a tremendous fish
and held him beside the boat
(…)
He hadn't fought at all.
He hung a grunting weight,

In the first lines of 'The Fish,' the speaker begins past stating that she went fishing and caught a "tremendous fish." As soon as the fish was out of the water, she began an intense period of observation. Perhaps due in part to surprise, the speaker does not immediately haul the fish into the boat. It is halfway out of the water, and she takes notation of the fact that her claw is caught in the corner of its mouth, where one would expect it to be.

In lines v and six, this speaker emphasizes the fact that as she was reeling in the fish, it did not fight at all. This seems surprising considering the fact that the fish is and then large. In that location is a distinct possibility that if it had fought, then information technology could've broken in the line and gotten away. A reader should accept note of the utilise of anaphora in lines five, six, and seven. Although the fish did not fight when she reeled information technology in, it had a deadweight which proved to be a different kind of resistance.

Lines eight-thirteen

battered and venerable
and homely. Here and there
(…)
and its pattern of darker brown
was similar wallpaper:

In lines eight and 9, Bishop uses iii adjectives to describe the fish. It is "battered," "venerable," and "homely." At first, these three words seem to cancel i another out. But that is not the instance at all. Through the use of the word battered, Bishop's speaker is acknowledging the fact that this is not the first time the fish has been caught. Information technology besides mayhap references injuries the fish sustained in the water itself.

When she uses the word venerable, she is showing her respect for the creature. She has taken note of its past injuries and the scars which have resulted. She knows that the fish has strength, endurance, and perseverance that should be recognized. Lastly, she calls the fish homely. This is a word pregnant ugly or unattractive.

She goes on, spending the next lines giving in-depth details about the fish's skin. Bishop uses a simile to describe its state. She compares it to old wallpaper that is peeling off the walls of an ancient house. As the strips come off, the skin underneath is revealed, and a new pattern is created as the ii different textures and colors contrast to one another.

Lines 14-26

shapes like full-blown roses
stained and lost through age.
(…)
fresh and well-baked with claret,
that can cut so badly —

In the next 2 lines of 'The Fish,' the speaker uses additional similes to compare the shapes that the peeling pare makes to "full blown roses." This is another reference to a wallpaper pattern. Just, she makes sure to emphasize the fact that the newspaper pattern has been lost to the ages. However it used to look, those images are long since gone.

In that location are other textures on the skin as well. These render the speaker to the wallpaper simile over and over over again. They were "barnacles" and "fine rosettes of lime." But, the speaker makes certain she doesn't become besides far from the "homely" qualities of the creature. These barnacles and rosettes are infested with sea lice.

She also takes note of the bear on the oxygen is having on the fish. Information technology is struggling through its trigger-happy introduction to this very different world. The oxygen is described every bit "terrible" and the gills as "frightening." They move every bit though terrified themselves. There is also the claret; as a issue of the hook in the fish's mouth.

Lines 27-33

I idea of the coarse white flesh
packed in like feathers,
(…)
and the pink swim-float
similar a big peony.

In the next seven lines, the sight of the blood inspires the speaker to consider the inside of the fish. From past feel catching, killing, and eating these animals, she knows that the "white flesh" is "packed in similar feathers." With this simile in mind, she continues on to describe the dissimilar size bones and the dramatic, contrasting, and evocative colors and shapes ane would encounter inside the fish's body. There is another simile that relates back to the roses of the wallpaper. This fourth dimension, the "swim float" is like a "big peony" flower.

Lines 34-44

I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
(…)
— Information technology was more similar the tipping
of an object toward the light.

The speaker also makes certain to depict a comparison between the fish and herself. She notices that his eyes are much larger than hers, but they are too "shallower" and yellower.

Simply like the fish's entrails, there is a shine to its eyes. They appear similar "tarnished tinfoil." She goes on to connect the fish to the human torso over again and the human action of wearing glasses. The fish'due south optics move in their sockets, just non with the intent of looking at her. She is only another object in this terrible even so familiar world. As the eyes motility, she compares them to objects "tipping toward the light."

Lines 45-55

I admired his sullen face,
the mechanism of his jaw,
(…)
with all their five large hooks
grown firmly in his oral fissure.

The fish is further personified or compared to humans when she describes its face every bit "sullen." She besides begins to speak about its lower lip and then pauses. The dashes indicate this moment. She is considering the fact that information technology may non really be a lip. It is more than like a weapon and much grimmer than a human lip.

Most importantly, she notes that in that location are "five old pieces of the fishing line" in the fish'southward oral cavity. They are all "notwithstanding attached" to their "five big hooks." Their age is adamant by the fact that they have "grown firmly in his mouth."

Lines 56-64

A green line, frayed at the end
where he broke it, two heavier lines,
(…)
a 5-haired beard of wisdom
trailing from his aching jaw.

The speaker takes the next line to detail what the hooks and line-fishing line await like. The in-depth study of these details makes the poem deadening down. It feels every bit if fourth dimension itself is moving at a decreased pace. She stares at the fish, entranced by its age and history. The speaker sees the hooks and their attached strings not as burdens but as metals. They speak to its venerability and strength.

It is articulate that the speaker is capable of sympathizing with the fish. She interprets the hairs on its mentum equally representatives of wisdom and determines that its jaw must be agonized.

Lines 65-76

I stared and stared
and victory filled upwardly
(…)
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I allow the fish get.

The speaker continues to stare at the fish, and she begins to feel a sense of victory. As if she surmounted some great obstacle with the grab and capture of this animate being. Again, in that location is a not bad corporeality of detail used to tiresome the lines down. She takes notice of the oil in the boat and the fashion it had spread into a rainbow. The speaker also noticed how the "thwarts" had been cracked past the sun and a number of other small details.

These elements, combined together, convey to the reader that she is in awe of the animal and is having a transcendent moment in its presence. Finally, the beauty of the scene overcomes her, and everything transforms into the rainbow of oil. In the last, simple, and concluding line Bishop's speaker admits that she permit the fish go. Now, her victory seems unlike.

The fact that she caught the fish does not speak to her strength or skill. In fact, five people before her had accomplished the same thing. The last line indicates that all of them had a similar transcendent moment. They were all influenced to release the fish dorsum into the water.

It also speaks to the possibility that the fish had some agreement of its impact on those who caught it. Considering it does not fight, perhaps information technology knew that it was not in any existent danger. It just had to endure the temporary pain and terror, then information technology would be permit go.

Similar Poesy

Readers who enjoyed 'The Fish' should also consider reading some of Elizabeth Bishop's other poems. For example:

'In the Waiting Room' –depicts how a child learns about the adult earth as she went with her aunt to the dentist's office.
'The Bight' – is a nature poem not unlike to'The Fish.'In it, the poet describes low tide in a bight where diverse animals, plants, and people share the landscape.
'I Art' – is one of Bishop'due south best-known poems. In it, the speaker explores themes of loss and how to deal with information technology.
'Questions of Travel' – argues the pros and cons of traveling and the feelings of regret ane might encounter.