Elizabeth Bishop’s The Fish. Poem Analyses Essay Paper

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Elizabeth Bishop’s The Fish
The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop is a one-stanza, free verse poem that reveals the speaker’s fishing experience. The narrator begins by declaring an achievement of catching a tremendous fish. She hung the fish halfway out of water. Here, something seems unusual with the fish since the speaker does not put it in her rented small boat. Instead, she starts studying it. Bishop becomes interested in observing the fish after realizing that it did not fight back in trying to set itself free. The more the narrator spends time looking at the fish, she discovers the challenges it has endured in its old age, particularly due to the five lines of hooks in its mouth, which reveals that it had escaped from the trap multiple times previously. In the end, she is compelled to let the fish go. Bishop uses poetic techniques of imagery, tone, diction, and figurative language to make her poem captivating.
Bishop’s poem starts with a jubilant tone, which is marked by “I caught a tremendous fish” (Bishop Line 1). In reality, not every time that a fisherperson goes out and has a big catch. However, something is not right with the fish since it does not fight back for its life. At this point, the tone of the speaker changes to that of detachment and coldness. The narrator becomes interested in studying the fish, which makes her realize the challenges that this creature has undergone in its old age. She becomes emotional and perceives it as a victor. Bishop uses diction to describe the fish and her experience with it. Some of the carefully selected words and phrases in the poem are “grunting weight,” “terrible oxygen,” “wallpaper,” and “five-haired beard.” For example, by using the phrase “grunting weight,” the reader can vividly see how the fisherperson was struggling to hold the tremendous fish halfway out of water.
Imagery runs throughout the poem. For instance, the narrator says, “with my hook fast in the corner of his mouth&rdq...