The Use of Symbolism in The Fish, a Poem by Elizabeth Bishop

In the poem, the Elizabeth Bishop highlights in several techniques the beauty that poems exhibit in literature. The poet utilizes various designs to bring out her message. The primary idea is that the poet goes out to catch a fish and in the end lets the fish go. It is an unexpected finish holding the fact that the poet talks about fishing in a passionate way at the starting of the poem. The poem carries much symbolism that can relate to our lives today. It can be used to depict how in our basic lives we carry ambitions that drive us to performing what we feel will bring us satisfaction and success as folks. This clearly illustrates the expectation versus the outcome aspect of symbolism that the poem passes (Bishop 755).

An additional aspect that the poet makes use of to illustrate the symbolism in the poem is the colors she makes use of to notice the beauty of the fish. In a progression, she describes the fish using brighter colors until to the finish where she lets it go. She describes the fish at first as being brown, then green, then pink and later utilizes the rainbow. The poet depicts symbolism with the alter in colour she uses in describing the fish correlating with her alter in attitude towards the fish. Additionally, there are lines in the poems that highlight how the poet ultimately begins to respect the fish following catching it. This in the finish turns out to be the principal reason that she lets it go. One particular such instance can be observed in line 45 “I admired his sullen face.” This clearly shows the respect and higher regard that the poet created for the fish following staring at it for some time and noticing the beauty of the fish she had caught (Bishop 756).