Sign Inventory 1 - Week 1

Sign Inventory
"The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-fish/

1. The first term used to describe the fish is “tremendous”. This adjective is unquantifiable as it means different things to different people. In contrast the narrator becomes very detailed about the fish’s physical attributes, even its internal organs.

2. The narrator of the poem relates the fish to a number of human objects, all of which are in the process of deteriorating:
           a. Skin hangs in strips like ancient wallpaper
           b. The irises resemble “tarnished tinfoil seen through the lenses of old scratched isinglass”
           c. Lower lip is “grim, wet, and weaponlike” with the hooks and fishing line still attached
           d. The hooks and fishing line are compared with medals and ribbons of honor - a deocrated veteran?
           e. Has a “five-haired beard of wisdom”
           f. Seaweed hangs like wet rags from his body

3. It can be assumed from the description of the hooks and fishing lines that are still stuck in the fish that he has been caught five times and has gotten away each time. I wonder why the fish did not get away this time. What is so special about this fisherman/woman that the fish was caught?

4. Two types of flowers, roses and peonies, are mentioned in the poem; however, the narrator uses them to emphasize the grotesqueness of the fish.

5. The fish’s eyes shift as the narrator holds it in the air. It does not return the narrator’s gaze. Where is the fish looking? Back in the water? Is this a sign of submission and fear, or is the fish unconcerned with being caught?

6. The dashes in the poem, the pauses, indicate the speaker is reorganizing his/her thoughts. It is as if they are struggling to make sense of the fish.

7. The narrator mentions “victory filled up the little rented boat” – Whose victory? The fisherman/fisherwoman’s or the fish’s victory?

8. Repetition of the words “stared” and “rainbow” in the last twelve lines of the poem creates the feeling of being hypnotized or entranced.

9. The rainbows could be coming from the oil spill as the light is reflected on the water.

10. There is no pattern to the poem. It appears to be free form, as if the narrator is writing everything just as they think it. The imagery gives the poem a dream-like quality.