“The Fish” Introduction

• Read the full text of “The Fish”

“The Fish” Summary

“The Fish” Themes

• 

  Humanity's Kinship with Nature

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-76

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Fish”

• Lines 1-9

  I caught a ...
  ... and homely.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-15

  Here and there ...
  ... lost through age.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 16-21

  He was speckled ...
  ... weed hung down.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 22-26

  While his gills ...
  ... cut so badly—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 27-33

  I thought of ...
  ... a big peony.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 34-40

  I looked into ...
  ... old scratched isinglass.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 41-44

  They shifted a ...
  ... toward the light.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 45-55

  I admired his ...
  ... in his mouth.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 56-64

  A green line, ...
  ... his aching jaw.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 65-74

  I stared and ...
  ... the gunnels—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 74-76

  until everything ...
  ... the fish go.

  

  

  

  

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“The Fish” Symbols

• 

  The Rainbow

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Line 69: “where oil had spread a rainbow”
  • Lines 74-75: “until everything / was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!”
• 

  The Fish

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-64

“The Fish” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Personification

  

  

  

  

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  Where personification appears in the poem:

  • Lines 2-7: “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,”
  • Lines 10-11: “his brown skin hung in strips / like ancient wallpaper,”
  • Line 16: “He was speckled with barnacles,”
  • Lines 22-23: “While his gills were breathing in / the terrible oxygen”
  • Lines 30-31: “the dramatic reds and blacks / of his shiny entrails,”
  • Line 34: “I looked into his eyes”
  • Line 45: “I admired his sullen face,”
  • Line 60: “when it broke and he got away.”

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Lines 7-21
  • Lines 24-33
  • Lines 34-40
  • Lines 56-60
  • Lines 68-75

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Lines 10-15: “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.”
  • Lines 27-28: “the coarse white flesh / packed in like feathers,”
  • Lines 32-33: “the pink swim-bladder / like a big peony.”
  • Lines 43-44: “—It was more like the tipping / of an object toward the light.”
  • Lines 49-50: “—if you could call it a lip— / grim, wet, and weaponlike,”
  • Lines 61-62: “Like medals with their ribbons / frayed and wavering,”

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Lines 20-21: “two or three / rags of green weed hung down.”
  • Lines 37-40: “the irises backed and packed / with tarnished tinfoil / seen through the lenses / of old scratched isinglass.”
  • Lines 63-64: “a five-haired beard of wisdom / trailing from his aching jaw.”
  • Lines 66-67: “and victory filled up / the little rented boat,”
  • Lines 74-75: “everything / was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 3-4: “hook / fast”
  • Lines 8-9: “venerable / and”
  • Lines 9-10: “there / his”
  • Lines 10-11: “strips / like”
  • Lines 12-13: “brown / was”
  • Lines 18-19: “infested / with”
  • Lines 20-21: “three / rags”
  • Lines 22-23: “in / the”
  • Lines 30-31: “blacks / of”
  • Lines 32-33: “swim-bladder / like”
  • Lines 37-38: “packed / with”
  • Lines 39-40: “lenses / of”
  • Lines 41-42: “not / to”
  • Lines 43-44: “tipping / of”
  • Lines 47-48: “saw / that”
  • Lines 52-53: “leader / with”
  • Lines 54-55: “hooks / grown”
  • Lines 56-57: “end / where”
  • Lines 58-59: “thread / still”
  • Lines 61-62: “ribbons / frayed”
  • Lines 63-64: “wisdom / trailing”
  • Lines 66-67: “up / the”
  • Lines 68-69: “bilge / where”
  • Lines 69-70: “rainbow / around”
  • Lines 74-75: “everything / was”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 11: “like ancient wallpaper,”
  • Line 13: “like wallpaper: ”
  • Line 48: “lip”
  • Line 49: “lip”
  • Line 56: “line”
  • Line 57: “lines”
  • Line 65: “I stared and stared”
  • Line 69: “rainbow”
  • Line 75: “rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 7: “hung,” “grunting”
  • Line 10: “skin,” “strips”
  • Line 11: “ancient,” “wallpaper”
  • Line 13: “wallpaper”
  • Line 14: “shapes,” “full-blown roses”
  • Line 15: “stained,” “age”
  • Line 17: “fine,” “rosettes,” “lime”
  • Line 18: “infested”
  • Line 19: “tiny white sea-lice”
  • Line 20: “underneath,” “three”
  • Line 21: “green weed”
  • Line 25: “blood”
  • Line 26: “cut”
  • Line 27: “flesh”
  • Line 28: “feathers”
  • Line 30: “dramatic,” “blacks”
  • Line 34: “eyes”
  • Line 35: “far larger,” “mine”
  • Line 36: “shallower,” “yellowed”
  • Line 37: “backed,” “packed”
  • Line 40: “scratched isinglass”
  • Line 41: “shifted,” “little”
  • Line 46: “jaw”
  • Line 47: “saw”
  • Line 50: “wet,” “weaponlike”
  • Line 51: “five,” “line”
  • Line 57: “lines”
  • Line 58: “fine”
  • Line 59: “still crimped”
  • Line 62: “frayed,” “wavering”
  • Line 63: “haired”
  • Line 64: “trailing,” “aching”
  • Line 72: “thwarts”
  • Line 73: “oarlocks,” “strings”
  • Line 74: “everything”
  • Line 75: “rainbow”
  • Line 76: “go”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “beside,” “boat”
  • Line 3: “half,” “hook”
  • Line 10: “skin,” “strips”
  • Line 24: “frightening”
  • Line 25: “fresh,” “crisp,” “blood”
  • Line 26: “can,” “cut,” “badly”
  • Line 29: “big bones”
  • Line 32: “pink,” “bladder”
  • Line 33: “big,” “peony”
  • Line 34: “looked”
  • Line 35: “larger”
  • Line 38: “tarnished tinfoil”
  • Line 43: “tipping”
  • Line 44: “toward”
  • Line 48: “lower lip”
  • Line 50: “wet,” “weaponlike”
  • Line 51: “five,” “fish”
  • Line 52: “four”
  • Line 53: “swivel still”
  • Line 55: “grown,” “firmly”
  • Line 56: “green,” “frayed”
  • Line 59: “still,” “strain,” “snap”

“The Fish” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Homely
• Venerable
• Swim-bladder
• Tarnished
• Isinglass
• A wire leader with the swivel still attached
• Crimped
• Bilge
• Bailer
• Thwarts
• Oarlocks
• Gunnels

• (Location in poem: Lines 8-9: “battered and venerable / and homely”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Fish”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Fish” Speaker

“The Fish” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Fish”

More “The Fish” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to Elizabeth Bishop reading the poem out loud.

  • "Elizabeth Bishop's Art of Losing" — Learn more about Elizabeth Bishop's personal life in this article from the New Yorker.

  • Bishop's Biography — Read more about Bishop's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.

  • Bishop's Legacy — Learn about Elizabeth Bishop's enduring influence.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Elizabeth Bishop

  • Crusoe in England

  • Filling Station

  • First Death in Nova Scotia

  • One Art

  • Sestina

  • The Man-Moth

  • The Mountain