The Fish (Poem)

Often therer are poems that touch our lives and leave a lasting impression with us. "The Fish," by Elizabeth Bishop, is one of these poems. A critic has said that it is one "of the most calmly beautiful, deeply sympathetic poems for our time." Why wouldn't it be? With the great details and phenomenal imagery she uses. "The Fish" leaves you moved and warmhearted toward the fish as well as toward life. "Shapes like full-blown …

…everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!" Everything for the speaker went into place. "Victory filled up" for the speaker as he stared at the fish who he first looked at with no remorse and now with pity and compassion. He understood the battles the fish had fought and to have killed him would have given him a dim and cloudy feeling but to let him go would have the bright and happy feeling of a rainbow.