Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop

• The Fish
• She is impressed by the "tremendous" fish. The fish is unattractive and old, it has been through a lot. It's age is an achievement.
• Her poetic intention is to describe the fish as accurately as possible, giving an imaginative description of its insides.
• The turning point of the poem is when she sees the 5 hooks in his lip.
• The fish is like a war veteran, he has fought and won battles. He has become a symbol of strength and endurance.
• She moves from the particular to the universal at the end of the poem.
• She has a dramatic moment of euphoria.
• "Rainbow" = hope. The beauty of victory after the battle.
• The fish has related a tale of victory.
• "tremendous" - it's an impressive fish
• "he hadn't fought at all" - fed up fighting (goes against it's natural instinct)
• "battered and venerable and homely" - Its worthy of respect but we don't know why
• "full-blown roses stained and lost trough age" - detailed description of the fish
• "grim, wet, and weaponlike" -description of the hooks and military language
• "A green line, frayed at the end" -he has won many battles
• "and victory filled up the little rented boat" -military language (the fish is a war veteran)
• "and I let the fish go" -victory for the poet and for the fish (triumph over adversity)

Slide 2

• At The Fishhouses
• The old man netting represents the passing of time as he was a friend of her grandfathers.
• The smell that used to be familiar to her now makes her eyes water showing us that the familiar can become strange.
• When she introduces the sea it is an unsettling and mysterious image.
• She moves away from talking about the sea to describe the place again. The whole place is old and worn.
• The old man is waiting for death: with age comes acceptance.
• She turns back to the sea: she seems to be avoiding it as if it symbolises something for her.
• Humans can't survive in the sea. She uses repetition with "cold dark deep and absolutely clear" The sea scares her.
• The sea symbolises knowledge, too much knowledge is hard, ignorance is bliss, we will never truly understand everything and knowledge is hard earned.
• "an old man sits netting" -consequence of time, a link to the past
• "swelling slowly as if considering spilling over" -first image of the sea: dangerous and mysterious
• "opaque" and "translucence" -microscopic detail
• "is an ancient wooden capstan" -the whole place is old and worn
• "melancholy stains, like dried blood" -old and worn
• "ironwork has rusted" -emphasises the old and worn place
• "clear element bearable to no mortal" -humans can't survive in the sea
• "cold dark deep and absolutely clear" -repetition
• "it is like what we imagine knowledge to be" -the sea symbolises knowledge

Slide 3