Lines 11–20
The fish’s flaking skin looks old, like wall hangings
falling from a wall. Its mottled brown appearance
is like old flowered wallpaper whose flowers and
patterns have grown discolored over time. Accord-
ing to the speaker, the fish carries barnacles and sea
mites on its body. A few pieces of ragged seaweed
also cling to him.
Lines 21–30
The fish’s gills are flapping in the open air, as if he is
gasping for breath. The gills are described as terrible
and bloody. The speaker indicates that it is as if
the gills can slice whatever they touch. In line 27, the
speaker reinserts herself,mentioning herself in the
first person for the first time since line 1. She says
that she thought of the fish’s insides, of his meat and
of his skeleton, withbones of varying sizes.
Lines 31–40
The speaker also imagines the bold colors of the
fish’s organs and intestines. She pictures his blad-
der and compares it to a flower. The speaker gazes
into the fish’s eyes. She says they are bigger than
her own, though they are not as deep. His eyes are
yellowed and shiny as if there is foil behind them.
The speaker says that looking at the fish’s eyes is
like looking at something through an aged and
cracked gelatin-like substance. Ironically, the par-
ticular gelatin the speaker refers to is made from
fish bladders.
Lines 41–50
The fish’s eyes move slightly, though they do
not appear to make contact with the speaker.
The speaker says the eyes seem to move uncon-
sciously toward any available brightness. She
indicates that the fish’s gaze is akin to an inani-
mate item, rather than being that of a living
being. After calling the fish’s face morose, the
speaker reinforces the idea of the fish as an inan-
imate object by noting that the structure of its
jaw is like a machine. Then, for the first time, the
speaker suddenly notices the fish’s impressive
bottom lip.
Lines 51–60
On the fish’s lip are five different strings of fish
line, all of them old. The speaker then revises her
statement by saying that there are actually only
four pieces of fish line and that the fifth piece is
instead a wire fishing leader with a metal piece
from a fishing pole still connected to it. All four
lines and the wire leader are still connected to fish
hooks. The fish hooks are dire and look like
weapons, and they have become firmly embedded
in the fish’s mouth, his skin having grown over
much of them.
The speaker then describes the various pieces
of fish line, noting their different colors, lengths,
and thicknesses. Some of the lines appear older
and more tattered, whereas one of the lines looks
as if it is newly bent from the fish’s successful
struggles for freedom.Lines 61–70
The speaker says the ragged and tattered lines are
like badges of honor. They are like the whiskers of
a beard comprising knowledge and experience.
The speaker imagines that the fish’s jaw must be
in pain. She may be indicating that the pain stems
from the physical weight of the hooks and lines
but also from the metaphorical weight of the
wisdom their presence has earned him.
The speaker mentions herself in the first per-
son and says that she looked and looked at the fish.
Having thoroughly inspected him, the speaker
experiences a sense of triumph that encompasses
the entirety of her leased boat. The sense of tri-
umph includes a puddle of water on the deck. A
shining streak of oil in the puddle creates a prism of
colors as the light is reflected in it. Next, the speak-
er’s feeling of achievementstretches to include the
boat’s corroded motor.Lines 71–76
The speaker’s sense of success also extends to the
corroded bucket used to bail out excess water
from the boat, to the rowing seats whose covers
are aged and split by the sun, and to the locks
meant to hold the boat’s oars in place. The feel-
ing surrounds everything until all is transformed
into colorful prisms of light much like that in
the oil-slicked puddle. Indeed, at this point the
speaker’s sense of ecstasy reaches a peak, as she
repeats the wordrainbowthree times in a row.
The speaker then releases the fish.Themes
The Power of Observation
First and foremost, ‘‘The Fish’’ is a poem about
observation. The fish, the object of the poet’s gaze,
is subject to all manner of description, from adjec-
tive to metaphor to simile. Each literary device is
a means through which the speaker attempts toThe Fish