Fish By Elizabeth Bishop: Themes And Stylistic Devices

Elizabeth Bishop is an American famous poet however; life was not always easy for her. She lost her father when she was still a baby and her mother was sent to a mental hospital and Elizabeth never saw her again. After that, she lived with her maternal grandparents in a village. Later on, when her paternal family gained her custody, she was separated from her maternal grandparents and she found herself lonely in her new home. She got sick during her childhood and was suffering from asthma. She published her first collection of poem in 1946. “The fish” is one of her most famous poems.

“The fish” by Elizabeth Bishop has no specific rhythm scheme and it is mostly written in free verse style . It is a story written in first person point of view and the speaker is a fisherman/woman who catches a “tremendous” fish. As the speaker examines this fish carefully, he/she realizes that there is something special about it, and in the end, he/she lets the fish go. I am going to study what is so special about this fish and the reason why the speaker releases the fish back into the water.

Imagery

“The fish” is a very descriptive poem, with strong imagery to the point that the reader can imagine the fish in their head with its details. The speaker has caught a “tremendous” fish and the use of adjectives such as “homely” (line 9), “battered” (line 8) makes the reader see that this fish is not beautiful. It is a big, plain-looking and damaged fish. The frequent uses of similes such as “his brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper” (on lines 10-11), its pattern of darker brown was like wallpaper” (on line 12-13) also makes it easier for the reader to imagine the fish and its appearance.

At the same time however, the speaker uses flower’s shapes and patterns such as “shapes like full-blown roses” (on line 14) or “fine rosettes of lime” (on line 17 ) or “a peony” (on line 33) to describe this “homely”, not so beautiful fish which creates a contrast because flowers are usually seen as beautiful.

As the speaker is observing, he/she notices the “frightening gills” (on line 24) of the fish and it is like a moment of fear for him/her because the gills “can cut so badly” (on line 26). The use of dashes on line 24 to 26 is to separate her thoughts and fear in that moment from the rest of the description. Then the speaker uses a metaphor to illustrate the flesh of the fish, which is “packed in like feathers” (on line 28)

A survivor

On line 8, the speaker uses the adjective “battered” which means assaulted and damaged. As we go further into the poem, we understand the reason why that is. The fish

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Just a few moments

The poem consists of 76 short lines which makes it seem like a long story and which gives the illusion that the story is taking a long time. However, the poem is mostly description of the fish and nothing much is really happening. In fact, the whole story is probably taking only a couple of minutes since the fish cannot breathe outside of water and it would have died if it was out for a long time. So therefore the encounter is not very long, but because the poem seems long, we get the illusion that the speaker is observing the fish for a very long time. The fact that the stanzas are short, and there is enjambment between the lines, forces the reader to go to the next line and it makes the reading take longer. The anaphora on line 65, “I stared and stared” also gives into this illusion.

The admiration

From the moment the speaker catches the fish, he/she seems to have a sense of respect for this fish as he uses the adjective “venerable” (on line 8) to describe it, which means respectable. Once again, on line 45, “I admired his sullen face”, the speaker is using the verb “admire” which is a strong word to show your appreciation. As the speaker continues to examine the fish more carefully, he/she notices the “five big hooks” that tried to catch this fish and he/she calls it as “medals with their ribbons” (on line 61) which demonstrates the admiration he/she has for this fish. The speaker sees this fish as a fighter and as a soldier who has escaped death, and now these “hooks” on him represent “medals” for its bravery. He/she also refers to them as “a five-haired beard of wisdom” (on line 63) which is another metaphor and it just indicates that to the speaker, this fish is full of experiences and wisdom.

The power

On the first line, the speaker says, “I caught a tremendous fish” and then again, on line 3 he indicates that he did it “with my hook”. The use of subject “I” in the very beginning of the poem and the possessive pronoun “my” makes it seems like the speaker is very proud of himself/herself. He/she feels powerful about catching this big fish. On lines 5 and 6, he/she repeats himself/herself by saying “He didn't fight. He hadn't fought at all.” using a full stop punctuation, which can convey a disappointment in him/her. The speaker then goes on to observing the fish. On line 23, the speaker still has power over this fish because he/she is holding it outside of water and it makes it impossible for the fish to breath hence he/she uses the oxymoron of “terrible oxygen”.

A sudden realization

On line 47, the speaker says “and then I saw” and it is a turning point in the poem because the speaker finds out that this fish is not a normal fish, it’s a fighter and it’s a survivor. There have been five others who have tried to catch it but they failed and now “all their five big hooks [have] grown firmly in his mouth.” (on lines 54-55)

“A five-haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw” on line 63, indicates that up to this point, the speaker feel proud of himself/herself to have caught the “wise” fish that nobody else could. However, now he/she has a great amount of respect and admiration for this fish and he realizes that he cannot be the one to take the life of it. Therefore, “victory” fills up the boat (on line 66) which means a victory for the fish, because the speaker is going to let the fish go.

Use of colours

From the beginning of poem, the speaker continuously uses different colours such as “brown” (line 10), “white” (on line 19), “green” (on line 21), “reds and blacks” (on line 30), “pink” (on line 32), “yellow” (on line 36), to describe the fish. And in the end, on line 69 “where oil had spread a rainbow” the mix of oil and water in the boat has created a rainbow like colour which makes the speaker realize that the fish is just like a rainbow with all these many colours that it has and it is beautiful.