Bishop

“The Fish”

Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish” is the poem that stood out to me most. We talked in class how she has a remarkable gift for description; she does more than merely observe. I think this is definitely true as I almost felt like I was right there in the poem.  I could clearly imagine the old fish with its brown, wall papery skin speckled with barnacles.   Bishop also used personification while describing the fish’s eyes, sullen face, and jaw.  In many ways, the fish was likened to an individual.    While reading this poem, I couldn’t help but think of the struggle for women’s rights. At this point in time, being 1946, women had achieved a substantial amount of rights compared to earlier times.  Perhaps, Bishop is using the fish as a reflection on what it feels like to feel constrained and, in a sense, imprisoned.  At the end of the poem the fish is finally set free, no longer captured or held back. A beautiful rainbow is then presented, perhaps signifying the victory over constraint.

“One Art”

What a sad poem.  I almost wonder if Bishop really believes what she is writing or if she is just being sarcastic.  She writes, “Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster.” How will this not bring disaster, I wonder. If a person forgets the places they visited, names of people they care about, and the places they want to visit someday, I feel like they are also losing a part of themselves in the process. Don’t memories shape part of a person’s identity?

On the other hand, maybe Bishop really does mean what she writes. She lost her mother and father at a very young age; she is accustomed to loss and moving on afterwards. Because her life was shaped by loss, she knows how to live with it. The introduction says that Bishop did not participate in self-pity. Perhaps this poem was a reflection of that. Maybe Bishop believes that one should not fret about what they have lost. Instead, some aspects of life and the past are better forgotten.

I guess I don’t really know for certain where she was going with this poem, but I wanted to try.