Exploring The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop English Literature Essay

In the verse form “ The Fish ” by Elizabeth Bishop, the writer uses much imagination, symbols, and similes to exemplify the narrative of catching the fish. The narrative verse form is one of a authoritative fisherman narrative ; nevertheless Bishop unambiguously twists the narrative with her usage of imagination. The imagination makes this narrative unrecorded with the reader ‘s imaginativeness. The inside informations of the fish entreaty to the reader ‘s vision and feelings. There are symbols in this verse form that are revealed through the similes which sometimes have different effects each clip their used. Elizabeth Bishop uses many literary devices to let the reader to develop an apprehension and grasp of the fish that is similar to her ain.

Elizabeth uses the maulerss in the jaw of the fish to spur the reader ‘s involvement of the fish. Like most of Bishop ‘s verse forms, the events in the verse form reveal background information. These maulerss help the reader sympathize with the fish and sympathize with the storyteller. The reader learns that the fish has been through a batch in its life because the, “ green line, frayed at the terminal where he broke it, two heavier lines, and a all right black yarn still crimped from the strain and catch when it broke and he got off. ” This tells the reader that the fish is immune and a tough one to catch. It besides shows that the fish has been around for rather some clip because it had cirripeds on it, and the lines, in its oral cavity, were old. Curiously, when caught this clip, “ He did n’t battle. He had n’t fought at all. He hung a grunting weight, battered and venerable and homely. “ ( 5-10 )

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The fish and the reader every bit good as the poet seem to hold acquired a common regard for each other. The maulers every bit good as the beat-up and vulnerable province show that the fish has aged over clip or has merely gotten tired from his conflict with fishermen. The boat of the storyteller is described as, “ little rented boataˆ¦ rusted engineaˆ¦ bailer rusted orangeaˆ¦ sun-cracked thwarts. “ ( 66-70 ) This description shows that it is rather possible that the storyteller is aged every bit good. The reader can deduce that the storyteller has been angling, possibly for this fish, for some clip, and now that he is caught, the honest thing to make is to “ allow the fish spell. “ ( 76 ) There are similes and metaphors that like these inside informations lead the reader into experiencing the same as the storyteller does.

“ Like decorations with their threads, ” Bishop likens the maulerss in line 60. This simile is used to assist the reader get the storyteller ‘s thought. More so, the reader is told the feeling that the storyteller feels when he sees the maulers in the fish ‘s oral cavity ; “ triumph filled up. “ ( 65 ) The changeless staring of the storyteller invoked deep idea of the fish making these metaphors. In lines 30-40, the storyteller looks into the fishes eyes and likens them to “ a large paeony ” and “ lenses of old scratched mica. ” The metaphors enhance the verse form by conveying a clearer image to the readers that can place with the comparings. For illustration, the significance of the mica is outlined in Allport ‘s papers:

Bishop ‘s involvement in optics, the scientific discipline of ocular perceptual experience, was acute. In Cardinal West she had worked in a mill doing binocular lenses, and knew the elaboratenesss of light refraction and contemplation. “ The Fish, ” with the “ lenses / of old scratched mica ” ( 39-40 ) , every bit good as the stoping rainbows, contains legion mentions to this cognition, every bit good as a cognition of the fish ‘s anatomy ( mica is really the clear, gelatinlike stuff that comprises the fish ‘s swim-bladder ) . The ability of see farther and in more item than with the normal human oculus, which is the power of the field glassess, besides is the power of Bishop ‘s verse form, which enlarges at the same clip as it focuses on the ocular visual aspect of the fish.

This extract identifies the writer ‘s purpose of utilizing mica in the verse form. The readers that have experience in the scientific field are to boot referred to see the fish as the storyteller does.

The verse form besides has a symbol which is identified through the repeat and initial rhyme of the word ‘rainbow. ‘ In line 75, the word ‘rainbow ‘ is repeated three times merely before the storyteller Lashkar-e-Taiba ‘s the fish spell. This symbol could be one of spiritual definition when God gave Noah a mark of peace, the rainbow. Possibly, the poet and the fish are now at peace with each other as they go their separate ways. Another significance may be that the fish has a particular ability to flim-flam fishermen by making rainbows perchance through light diffusion of his graduated tables, so he knew that this fisherman would merely allow him travel in awe of his impressiveness. This may be why he did non contend the storyteller. All these poetic devices help the reader get to cognize the fish every bit good as the storyteller knows the fish.

“ The Fish ” is a narrative verse form by Elizabeth Bishop that exercises poetic elements exemplifying the gimmick of a ‘tremendous fish. ‘ Bishop takes advantage of imagination, sensory inside informations, symbols, and similes to heighten the verse form. All of these poetic devices make the verse form existent to the reader by making a image in the reader ‘s head of the narrative that is similar to the poet ‘s apprehension of the verse form.

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