Elizabeth Bishop's Poem The Fish

From the onset of civilization, society has increased its capabilities in the quest for survival. Methods of achieving fundamental needs have been belittled through modernization. In 1946, a time period defined by abundant technological advancement, Elizabeth Bishop describes the art of capturing a fish from water, an act once used simply as a food source, in her poem “The Fish.” As the narrator caught the fish only to observe and then release the creature, the reader …

…a fish, an act that was once reserved only for a food source, in her poem “The Fish.” As the storyteller caught the fish only to observe and then release the creature, the reader develops a desire to discover what is observed. Work Cited Bishop, Elizabeth. “The Fish.” Responding to Literature, 3rd Ed. Ed. Judith A. Stanford. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999. 1210-12. Costello, Bonnie. “Attractive Mortality.” Elizabeth Bishop: Questions of Mastery. Cambridge: Harvard U Press, 1991. 63.