Bishop's "The Fish" Poetry Response

In the poem "The Fish," Elizabeth Bishop uses a fish as a symbol to express the theme of life and experience. The poem by itself has little structure to it. There are no apparent rhyme schemes, nor any clear meters. However, Bishop uses very powerful diction and ideas in the poem, forcing the reader to think and relate it to a greater aspect of his/her own life. The persona has a very mature and …

…value of life, just like the fish. However, there is one thing that I disagree with the persona, because she states the fish has "a five-haired beard of wisdom." In my opinion it should be "five-haired beard of stupidity" since the fish cannot learn from its past. After being caught so many times by bait, the fish still falls for it. If that is a sign of wisdom, then there is something fishy about it.