Deconstructing Elizabeth Bishop’s Poem ‘The Fish’

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Table of Contents

Introduction
About the author
Analysis of the poem
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Elizabeth Bishop’s poem, The Fish, is quite beautiful and emotionally charged. We know from the very first line that this fish is special, “a tremendous fish”. As she describes it, the reader gets the impression that this fish is quite ugly and undesirable. Some people might think that this is why she threw it back. However, it was probably the best fish the poet ever caught. This poem is the trophy picture of that wonderful catch.

About the author

Bishop was born in Massachusetts, but she later moved to Florida, and this fish might have been caught there in one of the large inland lakes.

Ernie Hilbert wrote: “Bishop’s poetics is one distinguished by tranquil observation, craft-like accuracy, care for the small things of the world, a miniaturist’s discretion and attention. Unlike the pert and wooly poetry that came to dominate American literature by the second half of her life, her poems are balanced like Alexander Calder mobiles, turning so subtly as to seem almost still at first, every element, every weight of meaning and song, poised flawlessly against the next.” (Poetry Foundation, 2008)

It is quite interesting, but not surprising that Bishop also painted. Her artist’s eye is very prominent in her poem, The Fish.

Analysis of the poem

In the first line, the poet calls this fish “tremendous”, and according to the experience of the reader, each will picture a really large size. That fish might be 75 pounds for some until the poet says she held it beside the boat. At this point, we know that this is a smaller fish and probably not over 30 pounds. That size caught in calm inlet waters would, indeed, be tremendous. We could see the fish as a metaphor for her life, but it doesn’t fit well when she lets him go, unless we look just a bit further and see that Bishop was reputed to be lesbian, so this fish could have been a “great catch” of a man, whom she admired, but did not want as a mate. Whether we read this poem on strictly a literal level or try to see what symbols Bishop might be hiding is entirely up to the reader, as the poem works either way.

She says she held him half out of the water (almost landed in the boat) with her hook firmly fastened in the corner of his mouth. She describes him as battered, venerable, and homely. So he is an ugly fish, and he has been beaten around, but she respects him (venerable). This might have been some older man in her literary circle whom she admired and maybe even loved in some way, but she may not have liked men as sexual partners. The next few lines tell us that the fish didn’t fight and had not fought at all. To a fisherman, this would not be such a good catch, because he didn’t fight. Fishermen prefer to catch lively fish that fight.

Bishop describes the hanging skin, scars, and barnacles with great care, but she uses the image of wallpaper with “full-blown roses” and “fine rosettes”. We can picture what she sees, even the colors. Then as she describes the white sea lice, we are shocked a bit with the image of this fish gasping for life, “breathing in the terrible oxygen.” Bishop sees the fish totally out of his element and knows he will die breathing oxygen.

We see the “frightening gills” that are sharp enough to cut, and some fishermen would know what kind of fish this was by now, but this reader is not that well-schooled in ichthyology. The poet describes her image of the parts of this fish, including entrails, as if she has cleaned quite a few. She describes the colors of blood and flesh, the way the flesh is arranged inside the fish (like feathers”, and even the swim bladder, “like a big peony.” Then we look into his eyes with the poet, and her minute description brings an immediate image for any who have ever caught and held a fish, deciding is they will land it or let it go. The eyes were larger than hers, so this is quite a large fish, even though fish eyes are generally large. We know it is still alive, because the yellow and silver eyes with a slightly green pupil (scratched isinglass) shift just a little. She “admired his sullen face”. This begins to personify this fish. The poet has made a connection with this fish.

The next part is the real surprise as she discovers the fishing line and leaders from at least five previous fishermen. This fish has been caught many times and fought so hard it got away, even once with a wire leader. He had to have fought valiantly and hard to do that, and he wears five hooks grown into his flesh “like medals” and they have become a “five haired beard of wisdom, trailing from his aching jaw.” The poet says she “stared and stared”, as well any of the audience might at this discovery. Then, with this realization, this fish becomes a wonderful prize as “victory filled up the boat”, and “everything was a rainbow, rainbow, rainbow.”

If only read on the literal level, this is a powerful poem, especially since she let the fish go. It echoes of the gladiators of ancient Rome, who might be freed by the crowd if they fought well. Bishop saw the evidence and judged this fish valiant, a fighter, a noble adversary, making catching him a huge victory. So she rewarded his long life of fighting and let him go.

This poem plays like a movie in front of the reader. We see the catch, the fish, his eyes and all his battered old body, and finally, the evidence that he has been the “one that got away” many times. We can almost see the rainbows as the poet realizes what a prize he is, and we feel her joy and triumph. The last line is possibly the most emotional as she let him go. It is satisfying. It is right.

Conclusion

This poem is wonderful to read-only on a literal level. It is not even necessary to deconstruct it to understand or enjoy it fully. The language that the poet uses throughout is what gives this poem its power. We see with her “isinglass” which is the sea-worn bottom of some bottle, flesh arranged “like feathers”, and all of the other images she uses to precisely convey what she sees. She also uses phrases that simply make us feel, such as “terribly oxygen” or “frightening gills”, but she does not dwell on feeling, just indicates it. The language is so graphic and needs no thought for understanding, that it never gets in the way of the images or of the feelings in this poem. We are watching a movie in her mind, and we understand.

References

Bishop, Elizabeth, 1946, The Fish, North and South, Houghton Mifflin.

Poetry Foundation,2008, Archive- Elizabeth Bishop, Web.

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Deconstructing Elizabeth Bishop’s Poem ‘The Fish’

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