In “The Fish” by Marianne Moore the narrator begins to describe a seemingly peaceful and beautiful ocean scene, with a fish gliding through dark water. Throughout the poem beauty is expressed through sea creatures and colors, while pain is illustrated through marks, scratches, dents, and death. This beauty and violence along with color symbolism demonstrates domestic abuse and the vicious cycle. This exploration of a seemingly ending cycle is the basis of “The Fish” and strives to illustrate the cycle of domestic abuse. The structure of the poem is quite interesting and highlights certain phrases and words to contribute to answering the poem's central idea. For example, the first line of each of the 8 stanzas has one syllable, which is incredibly …show more content…
For example, the first word of the poem “wade”(1) represents people and not fish, as a fish does not stay still. The people who stay still are victims of domestic abuse as many choose not to leave their partners either out of fear, financial reasons, and a million of other reasons. Some victims do not view their situation as abuse or feel as though they deserve it and this also contributes to why someone might not want to leave their abusive relationship. Another example of word choice revealing domestic violence is “opening and shutting itself like an injured fan.”(6-7), this conveys the real and serious injuries a victim may succumb to. The injured fan can also represent victims trying to hide and conceal their injuries and bruises, because if a fan is spinning fast enough sometimes you can’t tell that it's a little broken. So if a person goes about their day in a certain way or does things to try and hide their injuries and bruises one might not be able to tell that someone is being abused. Looking further into the poem at another example of a hidden message of hidden abuse is “cannot hide there for the submerged”(9-10). Domestic abuse is abuse that occurs within a home and or living situation so using cannot hide represents how victims often can not escape the violence and abuse. Using the word submerged conveys how a victim can not keep their …show more content…
The line “pink rice-grains”(21-22) illustrates small droplets of blood on a surface, small enough where it would be hard to notice as they are as small as grains of rice but still there. This line conveys how an abuser might try to hide their own actions to the world by being careful and methodical with how they hurt their victim. Also in this stanza the line “crabs like green lilies”(23-24) represents how a victim of domestic abuse may also get love from their abuser at a cost. Green lilies typically represent growth, life, success, and financial prosperity. A victim of abuse may not be able to live and survive on their own so they might have more financial prosperity if they stay in their current abusive
Taking pity on a creature in the hopes it will keep fighting. The poem, “The Fish,” by Elizabeth Bishop, has a sad and sympathetic tone due to her use of imagery and diction. The reader can gather information about the fish and what it has gone through in its life due to the details in her use of imagery. The author's diction creates a sense of peace within the animal, even though it has been caught. These factors make the poem simple, but also sympathetic.
The silence refers to the covert behavior by the victim; afraid to rebel against the offender. The hurt attributes to the mental and physical abuse the victim is experiencing. The text indicates a fearful demeanor by representing the victim’s contradicting thoughts, literally and metaphorically. Continuing on the dark path of silence is the origin of the
This is an example of astonishing imagery where the detail overflows the imagination. You feel immersed as you read the poem. The imagery portrayed in this poem adds a depth that you wouldn't be able to feel if you didn't get the provided
The tactile imagery reveals that there is cruelty, neglect and coldness in humanity. The speaker also predicts that his daughter will “relish in the sting of other’s agony” (10). The tactile and auditory imagery reveals that there is pain, suffering, as well as hatred in life. Another tactile imagery “mesh of seaweed snarled” (4-5) describes the feeling of having cold, slimy seaweed tangled around one’s wrists, suggest that the daughter is drowning. This imagery implies that accidents can happen in life.
Social conflict among African Americans and white society are extremely present in this poem. For example, the relationship between the women and the fishmonger and the relationship between the fishmonger and the “ three-dollar-an-hour, head-off-and -split-boys” shows the oppression of African Americans. For the relationship between the fishmonger and the women he belittles her and tries to put her down and persuade her to let him “Head Off & Split” the fish. The poem backs up this by saying that “ He laughed out loud, warning her about the painstaking work the toothy boy fish will require. With his hairy hands around his own neck, he imitates choking on an overlooked bone.
The contrasting symbol of the abrasive and painful experience of having a fish hook lodged in one’s eye socket depicts the abrasiveness and painfulness of lovers that no longer are in love. In the second stanza the poem changes to a harsh and sensible tone, whereas the first
Poems when written well allow readers to ad live the experience the author is describing, which is the cause of “The Fish” poems written by Elizabeth Bishop and Mary Oliver. Although fishing is one of my favorite hobbies it is also one of the most popular recreational activities which can be done on any budget. There are many reasons to fish, there is recreational, for food, a reason to get outdoors; however, catching the fish is only part of the fun. The tranquility of the peaceful water and the quiet time can be full filling all by itself as a portrait. The peacefulness of the water that calms you before you accept the challenge and cast your reel.
The structure of the poem is important to note because all three of the stanzas contain a pattern that recurs throughout the entirety of the poem. The first pattern that can be seen within the poem is each of the stanzas consist of quatrains, meaning that every stanza has four lines. Another important pattern to note within each stanza is that the first and the third lines, and the second and the fourth lines could be considered half rhymes. In the second stanza for example: the first line ends with “instrument” and the third line ends with “document”. Though the words do not completely rhyme, they do look similar and sound similar.
The balance between her reminiscing the past or holding on to so much aggression that she is forced to let go. These balances of struggle hold true throughout the entire poem to highlight the subliminal metaphors equipped with items typically used to destroy rather than build, along with symbolism that alludes to fighting
In the poem The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop, the author expresses a tone of sympathy for the fish after realizing that the fish had been caught many times before her. The author uses figurative language and Imagery to show how the fish really affected her choice to release it in the end. I think that the theme for this poem is that pride can help you make the right choices in life and help you become a better person. One poetic device used by the author was figurative language, more specifically, similes.
This poem is filled with a heavy sense of imagery, a creative use of language and literary devices, and a bit of symbolism through similes; utilizing these elements, the author enables the reader to connect and bond with the fish. Within the first three lines of the poem, the reader learns that the setting is a boat on some body of water. Even though the author uses many lines in the poem to relay her message, the story probably only took place over a few minutes. Bishop immediately personifies the fish by not referring to the fish as an object with the word “it,” but by referring to the fish with the word “him” as she “held him beside the boat” (2).
Although Bishop’s take on “The Fish” was describing a single thing, Moore uses a whole seascape to get her point across. She describes this world in an omniscient objective tone, portraying this place as majestic and wonderful but filled with hint of darkness. An example is how the “fish,” “wade through black jade” (1-2). This quote elaborates on the struggle of swimming through this opaque water. Even though Moore moves between scene to scene, it has an aura of flowiness, like the water.
Regardless of this, the poem is famous for its unique rhythm and meter of poem. The poem flows very smoothly but does not have a specific poetic foot. Consonances were used to help the rhyme scheme sound more pleasing to readers. The poets diction was exclusive and out of the ordinary.
"The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop is filled with multiple examples of figurative language. Figurative language gives the poem more clarity and allows the reader to have a better understanding of the ideas of the author. Throughout the poem, there are examples of figurative language such as, personification, hyperbole, and alliteration. However, examples of similes, metaphors, and imagery most clearly portrays the ideas of Elizabeth Bishop by comparing ideas that are related to the fish's physical state, and to reflect on how the fish is a survivor.
The song describes most of what is going on in the story. For example, “We found him with his face down in the pillow With a note that said I’ll love her till I die.” These two lines in the stanza are very descriptive. Using detailed lines makes a better understanding for the audience. It makes the song become more realistic.