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The Fish Elizabeth Bishop Summary

729 Words3 Pages

In the poem, “The Fish”, written by Elizabeth Bishop, the speaker catches a giant fish while fishing in a small rented boat. Throughout the poem, she examines her catch, holding it up half out of the water beside the boat. After observing the fish, she begins to develop a sense of respect for the fish. The poem takes readers through the speakers’ journey with the fish, from catching it to the final moment when the speaker releases the fish. She describes the fish and their unique relationship using diction, imagery, and figurative language in order to convey her thoughts.
The first two lines of the poem “I caught a tremendous fish and held him beside the boat” give readers a glimpse of both the setting and the connection between the poem and the title of the writing. Secondly, the next two lines show the reader that the speaker is speaking in present tense. Additionally, the personalization of the words “my hook” and “his mouth” shows readers both the reality of fishing and the interesting relationship between the fish and fisher. It 's not "a" hook in "its" mouth, it 's much more special than that. In line 8, the word "venerable" means someone who is very much respected, especially because of wisdom, age, or character. The speaker describes the fish as "venerable" (line 8), and paired with the word "homely" (line 9), the fish appears to be at home, and comfortable in the environment. The fish is "infested" and "speckled", which shows that the fish isn 't visually

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