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Analyzing The Poem 'The Fish' By Elizabeth Bishop

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What is “The Fish”? This poem written by Elizabeth Bishop is about what exactly what you think it is as you read the title, a fish. It starts off with the speaker out on a boat holding the fish they have caught. The speaker proceeds to describe the fish's appearance. Then they set the fish free. Personally I feel that the fish is basically dying. The following lines makes me believe he is old and dying. “He was speckled with barnacles, fine rosettes of lime, and infested with tiny white sea-lice,” These lines make me feel as if he fish is not healthy and close to death.The speaker feel that the fish is a survivor/ a warrior, the theme of the poem is victory in minor thing, and the poem has a earnest tone and it’s a freestyle poem.
As the speaker is describing the fish she states “Like medals with their ribbons …show more content…

Another line where it’s states the author possible feelings for the fish is when she says “a five-haired beard of wisdom”. The speaker speaks as if the fish has had a lot of experience and has survived many challenge. These two lines “still crimped from the strain and snap when it broke and he got away” also show that the fish is a survivor because he battled with the fishing line and managed to get

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The Bass, the River and Sheila Mant In the beginning of the story the narrator falls in love with Sheila Mant. As the story develops he learns that she thinks fishing is dumb, since he loves fishing he is dumbfounded. As to not offput her cuts a bass off his line. That choice goes wrong as she leaves him for someone else.

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He went through all this great amount of trouble for her and also had to leave a bass for this girl. But later when they got there, they had a good time. He even got a dance with her but after they were going home, she left him for another guy and got into his nice fancy car. The narrator had to stroke home alone in his boatcanoe. The theme of this story is really saying has a deeper meaning, that there' s are more fish in the

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His passion for Sheila Mant also shone through, especially when he thinks, ”... the only creature that seemed lovelier to me than a largemouth bass was Sheila Mant.” (36). Knowing his strong passion for fishing, for him to say that

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“They were already dying. The change from salt to fresh water had turned their flesh rotten. Long strips of it hung off their bodies, waving in the current”(75). This quotation intrigued me by the use of the fish as a symbolic meaning. It

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In addition, the last way that the short story demonstrates grief is when the main character is fishing and she immediately gets the determination to catch the fish she is chasing,“It occurs to me if I fall, I will not have the strength to regain my footing”(36). The reader then gets the feeling that the main character is upset and irritated at the same time. The reader begins to think that it may be that she is a really good fisher and she does not want to let the fish go. The main character is imaging the fish as her father and if she lets the fish escape her, then she would not have the strength to hold herself together anymore. If she lets her father go then she knows that the wave of sorrow will finally hit her and he will finally be gone.

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Nick was amazed by the water that flowed underneath the bridge. It had been a long time since he had seen the rapid moving water and the fish. The fish he seen are known as trout. Although the day was hot and his emotions were running rampant, these things made Nick very happy and brought a sense of peace to him. He didn’t stop there though.

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What seemed to be the biggest bass in the river, snagged on the line. There is no way the boy could let Sheila know of this. The rest of the night, the narrator maneuvers the boat perfectly and somehow manages to keep the fish on the line, without Sheila having any knowledge. They finally reach their destination and the boy is faced with a crippling decision. The boy has to either cut the line, letting the fish go, or risk having Sheila lose all interest in him by reeling in the fish.

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In Eleanor Lerman’s poem “Starfish,” the ordinary moments of life are elevated to deep contemplation and recognition. In “Starfish,” Lerman uses the recurring motif of starfish, along with a free verse structure, and the exploration of themes of existential reflection, ultimately suggesting that meaning is not found in answers but in the continuous search itself. The starfish in the poem can be seen as a symbol of life and existence. Propelling the author into reflection on the human experience, and the desire to find meaning and connection, even in the seemingly simple moments of life. Contradicting to the life of starfish, which is unpredictable in the “boundless sea.”

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The contrasting symbol of the abrasive and painful experience of having a fish hook lodged in one’s eye socket depicts the abrasiveness and painfulness of lovers that no longer are in love. In the second stanza the poem changes to a harsh and sensible tone, whereas the first

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Also, the fish represent the obstacles that one may face while trying to reach their goal and shaping their ability to achieve it. This ultimately challenges them to decide whether to accept the task and grow or abandon their dreams by giving up. The girl’s the environment around her influenced her hard work ethic and her decision to have patience to accomplish her

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The young fish mentioned represent that the “most profound realities of life are the most difficult to see or talk about” (Fairhurst, 2001, p.xiii) demonstrating Wallace’s point that we must be continuously active in important aspects of life. At first glimpse this analogy seems to loosen the tension and start the speech on good terms but once coming back to this idea it is frightening that this is “a great and terrible truth”(Wallace 2007). Connecting back to the idea of being attentive if wanting a fulfilled life, this analogy goes perfectly as those who remain in the “default” (Wallace 2005) setting do not need to understand the message behind the analogy and can only see the human, but those who want to go forward will look closer at the function of the words and understand the

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Reynolds uses this story to share a personal anecdote, telling how the fish could be seen “...flipping and flopping and flapping, inflating, deflating, dying, only to be met by mortified and confused faces.” By using this alliteration, Reynolds is trying to evoke empathy from the graduates, wanting them to feel the sadness represented through his words. He uses alliteration to help his audience understand how the fish was moving, with the audience being able to imagine what it was like in that moment and how terrifying it was. By using alliteration, Reynolds demonstrates his overall message to the graduates how through the course of life, it is often easy for individuals to only think about themselves, not taking a look at others around them. Through taking a look at other’s situations and checking in on them, humans can learn to help those who are less fortunate.

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Although the old man suffers in pain and exhaustion due to the great size of the fish, the overwhelming sun, and his injured hands, he does not quit but keeps persisting. He does not let go of the fish. He maintained his strong desire to conquer the

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It seems that the fish is actually the child, which could not walk at the beginning of his life. This metaphor conveys the helplessness that the child feels during this period. He feels like a fish that cannot swim. Moreover, the author uses imagery to make the reader feel the child 's anxiety, ' 'Under your bed sat the wolf and he made a shadow when cars passed by at night ' '. The child has a wolf under her bed, but she cannot do anything.

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The first poem I studied by Elizabeth Bishop was "The Fish". It is apparent from the very first line that this poem by Bishop was written for an audience and that the poet knew, in a way that was carefully judged, which language would be most effective. Written in the language of the narrative and first person, "I caught a tremendous fish", the poet immediately uses carefully judged language to tell us a tale. Throughout the poem, the poet uses extremely descriptive imagery "fresh and crisp with blood" to describe the fish that seemed to be completely limp and old.

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