The Fish

Elizabeth Bishop
Summary(LitChart)
The Fish" first appeared in Elizabeth Bishop's 1946
collection North & South. In this poem, a speaker catches a
huge, astonishing fish and becomes fascinated with its
primordial strangeness. When the speaker sees hooks caught in
the fish's lip and realizes this ancient creature has already
escaped five other fishers, the speaker decides, in a burst of
joy, to let the fish go again. The poem celebrates the power and
beauty of nature while also examining the ways that, to a
human being, an animal can at once seem totally alien and
deeply familiar.

The speaker remembers one day catching a huge, amazing fish

and holding him up out of the water, hook still in the fish's
mouth. The fish didn't struggle but just dangled there next to
the boat looking beat-up, ancient, grand, and ugly all at
once. His skin was peeling and raggedy as old, brown
wallpaper, with blotches on it that looked like faded brown
roses. He was all covered in growths and parasites, and strips
of seaweed hung off his body. While he tried to breathe the air,
which wasn't suited for him, through his sharp, dangerous,
bloody gills, the speaker imagined his innards: his white,
feathery flesh; all his different bones; his bright red and black
guts; and his flower-like swim-bladder. Gazing into the fish's
eyes, the speaker saw that they were huge, round, and shallow,
and looked as if they were stuffed with old tinfoil, seen through
a thin, scratched-up translucent coating. The fish's eyes moved
a little, not looking at the speaker, just tilting a bit in the
light. While admiring the fish's big heavy moody face, the
speaker spotted five ancient, imposing fishhooks firmly
embedded in the fish's blunt lower lip. There were still bits of
broken fishing line dangling from these hooks, like old medals
of honor, or like a wise old man's beard. The speaker just kept
staring at this fish until it felt like all the parts of the rusty old
boat were being filled up with a sense of victory, a feeling that
spread over everything like the puddle of oil in the bottom of
the boat, until everything the speaker saw seemed to be
covered in rainbows. And then, the speaker released the fish
back into the water.
Summary(Poem analyses)
The poem begins with the speaker telling the reader that she
went fishing and caught a “tremendous fish.” She emphasizes
the fact that as she was reeling in the fish, it did not fight at all.
Bishop uses three adjectives to describe it. It is “battered,”
“venerable,” and “homely.” She goes on, spending the next
lines giving in-depth details about the state of the skin. She
compares it to old wallpaper that is peeling off the walls of an
ancient house. In the next seven lines, the sight of the blood
inspires the speaker to consider the fish’s insides. From past
experience catching, killing, and eating these animals, she
knows that the “white flesh“ is “packed in like feathers.”

Most importantly, she notes that there are “five old pieces of
fishing line” in the fish’s mouth. They are all “still attached” to
their “five big hooks.” The speaker continues to stare at the
fish, and she begins to feel a sense of victory. She also notices
the oil in the boat and the way it spreads into a rainbow. The
speaker was awed by these sights, and suddenly everything
appeared to be a rainbow. This new state of mind encouraged
her to release the fish.
 Analysis of the Title
Bishop’s poem, ‘The Fish,’ has a straightforward title that’s
hard to misinterpret. It designated this poem as focused on
“the fish” the young main character catches. This ensures that
the reader puts as much time into thinking about the fish as
possible, rather than analyzing other, less central parts of the
text.

Themes
‘The Fish’ is one of those poems that seems simple from the
outside but actually contains great depths of meaning. In the
text, Bishop engages with themes of nature, humility, and
choices. After catching this extremely noteworthy fish, it is her
choice to release it back into the water. She had a moment of
connection with the creature that spread out into a broader
connection with the natural world. She was suddenly more a
part of things than she had been in the past, her state of mind
was altered. Additionally, it is clear that this particular
creature’s history moved her, the number of times it had been
caught, and how each time it escaped death. This speaks to
another less obvious theme–death.

The Fish
Elizabeth Bishop
I caught a tremendous fish
and held him beside the boat
half out of water, with my hook
fast in a corner of his mouth.
He didn’t fight.
He hadn’t fought at all.
He hung a grunting weight,
battered and venerable
and homely. Here and there
his brown skin hung in strips
 like ancient wallpaper,
and its pattern of darker brown
was like wallpaper:
shapes like full-blown roses
stained and lost through age.
He was speckled with barnacles,
fine rosettes of lime,
and infested
with tiny white sea-lice,
and underneath two or three
rags of green weed hung down.
While his gills were breathing in
the terrible oxygen
—the frightening gills,
fresh and crisp with blood,
that can cut so badly—
I thought of the coarse white flesh
packed in like feathers,
the big bones and the little bones,
the dramatic reds and blacks
of his shiny entrails,
and the pink swim-bladder
like a big peony.
I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
but shallower, and yellowed,
the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil
seen through the lenses
of old scratched isinglass.
They shifted a little, but not
to return my stare.
—It was more like the tipping
of an object toward the light.
I admired his sullen face,
the mechanism of his jaw,
and then I saw
that from his lower lip
—if you could call it a lip—
grim, wet, and weaponlike,
hung five old pieces of fish-line,
or four and a wire leader
with the swivel still attached,
with all their five big hooks
grown firmly in his mouth.
A green line, frayed at the end
where he broke it, two heavier lines,
and a fine black thread
still crimped from the strain and snap
 when it broke and he got away.
Like medals with their ribbons
frayed and wavering,
a five-haired beard of wisdom
trailing from his aching jaw.
I stared and stared
and victory filled up
the little rented boat,
from the pool of bilge
where oil had spread a rainbow
around the rusted engine
to the bailer rusted orange,
the sun-cracked thwarts,
the oarlocks on their strings,
the gunnels—until everything
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go.

Line by Line Analyses

In the first lines of ‘The Fish,’ the speaker begins by stating that
she went fishing and caught a “tremendous fish.” As soon as the
fish was out of the water, she began an intense period of
observation. Perhaps due in part to surprise, the speaker does not
immediately haul the fish into the boat. It is halfway out of the
water, and she takes note of the fact that her hook is caught in
the corner of its mouth, where one would expect it to be

In lines five and six, this speaker emphasizes the fact that as she
was reeling in the fish, it did not fight at all. This seems surprising
considering the fact that the fish is so large. There is a distinct
possibility that if it had fought, then it could’ve broken in the line
and gotten away. A reader should take note of the use
of anaphora in lines five, six, and seven. Although the fish did not
fight when she reeled it in, it had a deadweight which proved to
be a different kind of resistance

In lines eight and nine, Bishop uses three adjectives to describe

the fish. It is “battered,” “venerable,“ and “homely.” At first, these
three words seem to cancel one another out. But that is not the
case at all. Through the use of the word battered, Bishop’s
speaker is acknowledging the fact that this is not the first time the
fish has been caught. It also possibly references injuries the fish
sustained in the water itself.

When she uses the word venerable, she is showing her respect for
the animal. She has taken note of its past injuries and the scars
which have resulted. She knows that the fish has strength,
endurance, and perseverance that should be recognized. Lastly,
she calls the fish homely. This is a word meaning ugly or
unattractive.

She goes on, spending the next lines giving in-depth details about
the fish’s skin. Bishop uses a simile to describe its state. She
compares it to old wallpaper that is peeling off the walls of an
ancient house. As the strips come off, the skin underneath is
revealed, and a new pattern is created as the two different
textures and colors contrast to one another.

In the next two lines of ‘The Fish,’ the speaker uses

additional similes to compare the shapes that the peeling skin
makes to “full blown roses.” This is another reference to a
wallpaper pattern. However, she makes sure to emphasize the
fact that the paper pattern has been lost to the ages. However it
used to look, those images are long since gone

There are other textures on the skin as well. These return the
speaker to the wallpaper simile over and over again. They were
“barnacles” and “fine rosettes of lime.” But, the speaker makes
sure she doesn’t get too far from the “homely” qualities of the
creature. These barnacles and rosettes are infested with sea lice.

She also takes note of the impact the oxygen is having on the
fish. It is struggling through its violent introduction to this very
different world. The oxygen is described as “terrible” and the gills
as “frightening.” They move as though terrified themselves. There
is also the blood; as a result of the hook in the fish’s mouth.

In the next seven lines, the sight of the blood inspires the speaker to
consider the inside of the fish. From past experience catching,
killing, and eating these animals, she knows that the “white flesh“ is
“packed in like feathers.” With this simile in mind, she continues on
to describe the different size bones and the dramatic, contrasting,
and evocative colors and shapes one would see inside the fish’s
body. There is another simile that relates back to the roses of the
wallpaper. This time, the “swim bladder” is like a “big peony”
flower.

The speaker also makes sure to draw a comparison between the fish
and herself. She notices that his eyes are much larger than hers, but
they are also “shallower” and yellower.

Just like the fish’s entrails, there is a shine to its eyes. They appear
like “tarnished tinfoil.” She goes on to connect the fish to the human
body again and the act of wearing glasses. The fish’s eyes move in
their sockets, but not with the intent of looking at her. She is just
another object in this terrible yet familiar world. As the eyes move,
she compares them to objects “tipping toward the light.”

The fish is further personified or compared to humans when she

describes its face as “sullen.” She also begins to speak about its lower
lip and then pauses. The dashes indicate this moment. She is
considering the fact that it may not actually be a lip. It is more like a
weapon and much grimmer than a human lip.

Most importantly, she notes that there are “five old pieces of the
fishing line” in the fish’s mouth. They are all “still attached” to their
“five big hooks.” Their age is determined by the fact that they have
“grown firmly in his mouth.”

The speaker takes the next line to detail what the hooks and
fishing line look like. The in-depth study of these details makes
the poem slow down. It feels as if time itself is moving at a
decreased pace. She stares at the fish, entranced by its age
and history. The speaker sees the hooks and their attached
strings not as burdens but as metals. They speak to its
venerability and strength.

It is clear that the speaker is capable of sympathizing with the fish.

She interprets the hairs on its chin as representatives of wisdom and
determines that its jaw must be aching

The speaker continues to stare at the fish, and she begins to feel a
sense of victory. As if she surmounted some great obstacle with the
catch and capture of this creature. Again, there is a great amount of
detail used to slow the lines down. She takes notice of the oil in the
boat and the way it had spread into a rainbow. The speaker also
noticed how the “thwarts” had been cracked by the sun and a number
of other small details.

These elements, combined together, convey to the reader that she is

in awe of the animal and is having a transcendent moment in its
presence. Finally, the beauty of the scene overcomes her, and
everything transforms into the rainbow of oil. In the last, simple, and
concluding line Bishop’s speaker admits that she let the fish go. Now,
her victory seems different.

The fact that she caught the fish does not speak to her strength
or skill. In fact, five people before her had accomplished the
same thing. The last line indicates that all of them had a similar
transcendent moment. They were all influenced to release the
fish back into the water.

It also speaks to the possibility that the fish had some understanding
of its impact on those who caught it. Because it does not fight,
perhaps it knew that it was not in any real danger. It just had to
endure the temporary pain and terror, and then it would be let go

Question
What is the significant connection between man and nature in the
poem "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop?

In Elizabeth Bishop's poem "The Fish," the connection between man and
nature is significant as it reflects themes of respect, humility, and
interconnectedness. The speaker initially catches a large, aged fish and
observes it in great detail, recognizing its resilience, history, and battle
scars. As the speaker contemplates the fish, a deep sense of respect for
its survival and dignity develops.

This connection between man and nature is rooted in an appreciation of

the fish as more than just a catch. Through vivid imagery and close
observation, Bishop blurs the boundary between the human and the
natural world, suggesting that both are part of a larger, shared existence.
The speaker's final decision to release the fish, rather than keep it,
symbolizes an acknowledgment of this interconnectedness and a profound
respect for life in its natural form.
Thus, the poem highlights the harmony that can exist between man and
nature when humans approach the natural world with empathy and
understanding rather than dominance.