The Fish
‘‘The Fish’’ is considered one of Elizabeth Bish-
op’s best and most popular poems, and it is her
most frequently anthologized work. It is repre-
sentative not only of her early work (in style and
form) but also of her work as a whole (in theme
and tone). Given that Bishop is one of America’s
foremost modernist poets, ‘‘The Fish’’ is not only
a standout work from Bishop’s overall oeuvre
but also an exemplary work of modernist poetry.
Though the poem appears to be a straightfor-
ward if somewhat flowery description of a fish
caught by the speaker, it ultimately becomes a
treatise on perception and reality. The poem is
also highly meditative; as the speaker holds the
newly caught fish, the unspoken problem of
whether to release it or keep it is being deliber-
ated through the speaker’s observations of the
fish and of the life it must have led. In addition,
through the description of the fish, several differ-
ent poetic devices are employed, adding to the
range and depth of the poem. First published
in thePartisan Reviewin 1940, ‘‘The Fish’’ was
next included in Bishop’s 1946 poetry collection
North and South. The poem remains one of Bish-
op’s most well-known works, and it is often
included in both high school and college curric-
ulums as an integral part of the study of mod-
ernist poetry. ‘‘The Fish’’ is widely available on
the Internet and can be easily found in the 1984
edition of Bishop’sComplete Poems, 1927–1979,
a volume that has remained continuously in
print since its first publication.42
ELIZABETH BISHOP
1940